How much formal schooling did Spencer have?

Very little, he left school young

What did Spencer notice in 1945?

A melted candy bar in his pocket

Percy Spencer Quiz: The Raytheon Engineer Behind the Microwave

This percy spencer quiz follows a self-taught engineer to a melting candy bar. Play 10 interactive questions on his childhood in Maine, leaving school young, learning radio in the Navy, joining Raytheon, speeding up magnetron production during the Second World War, noticing melted chocolate in 1945, popping popcorn, a patent and the Radarange.

Start Percy Spencer Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Home
Which US state did Spencer grow up in?
School
How much formal schooling did Spencer have?
Navy
Where did Spencer learn radio technology?
Company
Which company did Spencer work for?
Mag
Which device did Spencer help mass-produce in wartime?
Candy
What did Spencer notice in 1945?
Pop
Which food did he test next?
Egg
What happened when an egg was heated?
Product
What was Raytheon's early microwave oven called?
Size
How did early microwave ovens compare with today's?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which US state did Spencer grow up in?
Answer: Maine
In New England.
Q2: How much formal schooling did Spencer have?
Answer: Very little, he left school young
Largely self-taught.
Q3: Where did Spencer learn radio technology?
Answer: In the US Navy
As a young man.
Q4: Which company did Spencer work for?
Answer: Raytheon
A defense firm.
Q5: Which device did Spencer help mass-produce in wartime?
Answer: The magnetron
For radar.
Q6: What did Spencer notice in 1945?
Answer: A melted candy bar in his pocket
Near a magnetron.
Q7: Which food did he test next?
Answer: Popcorn kernels
They popped.
Q8: What happened when an egg was heated?
Answer: It exploded
Pressure built inside.
Q9: What was Raytheon's early microwave oven called?
Answer: Radarange
Large and expensive.
Q10: How did early microwave ovens compare with today's?
Answer: Much larger
About as tall as a person.

The Engineer and the Melted Candy Bar

Percy Spencer grew up in Maine and left school young, teaching himself much of what he knew. He learned radio technology in the US Navy and later joined Raytheon, where he became an expert on magnetrons.

During the Second World War, Spencer devised ways to mass-produce magnetrons for radar far faster. In 1945, standing near an operating magnetron, he noticed a candy bar in his pocket had melted. He tested popcorn kernels, which popped, and an egg, which exploded from built-up pressure.

Raytheon patented microwave cooking and introduced the Radarange, an early microwave oven about as tall as a person and very expensive. Spencer's curiosity turned a wartime technology into a household appliance.

What This Quiz Teaches

Tech history fans will enjoy these questions.

Where Spencer grew up
How he learned
What he made in wartime
What he noticed
What product followed

Did You Know?

Spencer received many patents.
He became a senior Raytheon executive.
Home microwaves spread in the 1970s.
The Navy honored his wartime work.
Curiosity drove his discoveries.