Biography of Percy Spencer (Chelsy_03_IPS)

Nama      : Chelsy Asa Sandhika

No/Kelas: 03 / X IPS 4smt

Percy Spencer was born on July 19, 1894 in America and became an American engineer and inventor in the 20th century.

At the age of 18 months, Spencer's father died and his death left him in the care of his uncle and aunt. At the age of 7 years, his uncle also died forcing him to leave school and help his aunt work. He worked in a factory from the age of 12 to 16.

One day he got word that a local paper mill would start using electricity in the day-to-day operations of the mill. Because he comes from an area that has never had electricity, namely Maine, Spencer was very interested in the news. Finally he was accepted at the paper mills and assigned electrical installations.

At the age of 18, Spencer joined the United States Navy and became increasingly concerned with electricity. He eventually learned wireless communication and took an active part in wireless learning when the Titanic sank. His love for electricity made him explore other related fields of science. Namely calculus, trigonometry, physics, chemistry and mathematics.

In 1939, Percy became one of the experts to be reckoned with in the design of radar tubes. Armed with his skills, Percy is drawn to work at Raytheon, the United States Department of Defense Contractor and Spencer accidentally discovers the forerunner of microwave technology.

While testing the manufacture of magnetrons and standing in front of a radar machine that uses microwave technology, he finds a piece of candy in his pocket melting.

Seeing this oddity, Spencer was curious to do a test run. He also took some food ingredients to be used as guinea pigs.

The first uses corn kernels, and the second uses eggs. An egg is placed in a tea kettle, with a magnetron placed directly on top of the kettle and the egg explodes. He continued to develop his findings until he was able to create a new tool that can be used to heat food

On October 8, 1945, Spencer patented his invention which he named Radarange. This tool is just a simple form, a closed box in which there is a emission of electromagnetic waves.

However, this first microwave patent finally fell into the hands of Raytheon as a place for Spencer to work and find his new tool.

This simple 6-meter-sized microwave has been mass-produced since 1947 and introduced to the public in 1955. Microwaves have experienced developments in both form and technology. From those measuring 6 meters, to modern microwaves that are small and compact as they are today.

Sumber: https://www.kompas.com/tren/read/2021/03/19/203000965/profil-penemu-oven-microwave--percy-spencer