Does Putting a Penny in the Microwave Really Make It Shrink?

It's a lesson even the worst home cooks (hopefully) know: Putting metal in the microwave is a recipe for disaster. Thanks to a viral image circulating on the web, some people may be tempted to ignore this piece of common sense in the name of experimentation. The picture shows one normal-sized penny next to three smaller pennies with the caption: "This is what happens when you put a penny in a microwave for 2 minutes." But according to Snopes, microwaving a penny won't cause it to shrink—if anything, it will just leave you with a broken microwave.

Microwave ovens heat food by bouncing microwaves around a metal box. Certain molecules, like the molecules in your leftovers, absorb these waves via dielectric loss and convert them into heat. Not all substances are compatible with microwaves, however. Metal contains high concentrations of electrons, and when microwaves hit a metallic surface, these electrons become very active and block the wave's path. Instead of absorbing into the metal, the microwaves bounce off, which can cause electrical sparks. Sometimes these sparks are strong enough to burn a hole in the oven's walls and damage the electronic equipment.

Even if you could somehow shrink coins in a microwave, the science explained above should be reason enough to resist the urge to try it at home. Anyone who tries the experiment against their better instincts will be disappointed. The photo that's been shared on social media is a hoax, with Snopes explaining that the smaller pennies likely originated in a magician's trick kit.

The post inspired some people to share false claims of their own. One response to the image showed a melted microwave that had allegedly fallen victim to the penny trick. In reality, the years-old picture came from a blogger who set their microwave on fire accidentally while heating a pot of oil. So while microwaving a penny may cause some sparks and potentially damage your appliance, a dramatic explosion isn't likely. (Please just take our word on that, too.)

[h/t Snopes]