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General Physics Science Fair Project

Cell Phone Radiation and Popcorn

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Cell Phone Radiation and Popcorn | Science Fair Projects | STEM Projects
Can the radiation from cell phones generate enough heat to pop a corn kernel? You arrange cell phones in a circle around dried corn seeds. The phones point their antennae toward the seeds from about 5 cm away. You start with 2 phones ringing at once and gradually increase to 5, 10, 15, and 20 phones. Each trial runs for five minutes while you watch for any sign of popping. Even with 20 phones ringing at the same time, the corn seeds remain completely uncooked. Cell phone signals do not produce enough energy to pop corn.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that cell phone radiation contains sufficient energy to cook popcorn.

Science Concepts Learned

Electromagnetic Radiation

Cell phone signals are a form of electromagnetic radiation, energy that travels in waves through space. Even when 20 phones ring at the same time with their antennae pointed at dried corn seeds, the seeds remain completely uncooked. This shows that cell phone signals carry very little energy per wave compared to the heat needed to change matter.

Method & Materials

You will need 40 cell phones, 10 dried corn seeds, and 20 participants. The participants will each be given two cell phones. One phone will be used to make a call, and the other will be placed next to the corn seeds. The test will be repeated using different numbers of cell phones.
You will need 40 cell phones, 10 dried corn seeds, and 20 participants.

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Results

The results showed that the dried corn seeds were not cooked into popcorn, regardless of the number of phones used. This suggests that the power in a cellphone's signal is not sufficient to heat up the corn seeds.

Why do this project?

This science project is interesting because it explores the potential of cell phone radiation to cook food.

Also Consider

Consider cooking an egg instead of popcorn, or place the phone near a glass of water to see if there is an increase in the temperature of the water.

Full project details

Additional information and source material for this project are available below.

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