The uses of Electromagnetic Radiation

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

In a recent post, I described to you the basics of Electromagnetic Radiation, what it is, how it differs from Electromagnetic Fields and its base uses. However, now I look back over that post, I feel I can give you far more information. So over this post I will go into greater depth on each form of Electromagnetic Radiation and how they are used in the world.

Radio waves

Radio-waves: Over the electromagnetic spectrum, the Radio-wave has the longest potential wavelength, they are mainly used for the transmission of audio/visual data, mainly to television and radios. Radio-waves are separated into four groups; Long wave, short wave, VHF, UHF.

• Long-wave Radio waves can range from anything between 1-2 Km in wavelength and are considered low frequency. Long-wave's also have several non broadcasting uses, the military of several countries use Long-wave Radio-waves to communicate with their Submarines. They are also used to help guide zed Submarines as well as other nautical and aviation vehicles with Non-directional beacons, which are transmitters placed in specific locations that pilots can use to determine their relative location. Finally, low frequency waves are used to host amateur and experimental radio stations.
• Short wave Radio waves are roughly about 100m in wavelength, and are represented by the AM frequency. These are also used for short wave radios that many hobby enthusiasts use to communicate with each other over seas.
• VHF Radio waves or Very high frequency radio waves have a wavelength of roughly two meters, the FM frequency is linked to these Radio waves. Non digital television signals are transmitted via VHF frequencies, as are land mobile stations and air traffic control towers.
• UHF Radio waves also known as Ultra high frequency waves are roughly 1 to 10 decimeters long, they are mostly used for digital communication, such as digital Television signals, wireless phones and satellite communication.

Micro waves

Microwave Radiation: Microwaves are higher frequency than radio waves, with their wavelengths being no longer than a couple of centimeters. Stars generate high amounts of Microwave radiation.
The way microwaves cook food is by making water and fat molecules vibrate at high speeds, heating the food rapidly, this is why a microwave is one of the most effective ways of cooking as it directly heats main elements of food. 

Mobile phones also utilize Microwaves as they are easily generated, and can be done so by small antenna and devices, on the other side however, Microwaves need a direct line of sight to transmit information, as well as not generating a large amount of power.

Speed cameras use Microwaves, as does Radar. By sending out bursts of microwave radiation and detecting the echos that return to determine the location of objects within the burst radius and the amount of time that it takes for the echo to return to determine the relative distance.

Infrared Radiation

Infrared Radiation: Infrared radiation is just below visible red light in the electromagnetic spectrum, which is where the name originates. Most people confuse infrared radiation as heat, whereas in truth infrared radiation is produced by any object that creates heat, from the Human body to a hot kettle. 

Many security lights use the infrared radiation given off by the human body to detect intruders or fires. Infrared radiation see the most human use in the Electromagnetic spectrum (Barring Visible light radiation), I can almost guarantee you will use it at least once before the end of the day. Remote controls use infrared radiation to communicate information to television sets and games consoles.
Remember the movie "Predator"? The way the Predator in that movie is via Infrared Radiation; all objects, living or dead give off Infrared Radiation, so it can be used to see in the dark with ease. All modern mobile phones also have inbuilt ways to utilize Infrared radiation, from transmitting short range data transfers (before the days of bluetooth) and most digital cameras in mobiles use low levels of Infrared radiation to help with image acquisition.

A version of security cameras are utilized by most law enforcement agencies to help with night time operations as it allows easy acquisition of targets moving in the dark, something that can become nigh impossible with eye sight alone.

Visible light radiation

Visible Light Radiation: Visible light is the small amount of the Electromagnetic spectrum we can view without mechanical aid. Much like Infrared Radiation, Visible light radiation is given off by any object of a certain heat, normally when it reaches a temperature that makes an object hot enough to glow. For example, the electrical current in a lightbulb causes the lamp filament to heat to roughly 3000 degrees, causing it to become white hot. An interesting note about Visible light radiation is that the color white is not considered  "Visible" as it is the combination of all Visible light and un-viewable by human eye.

Do you want to know the most obvious use for Visible light radiation? The ability to see is the chief use, obviously. Secondly, high intensity visible light radiation can also be used to create lasers, which see use in many facets of modern technology, from disc readers to military targeting devices.

Ultra Violet

Ultra Violet Radiation: The largest generator of this radiation is the sun itself, UV radiation sees a lot of commercial use. When you go into a fast food restaurant, chances are you've seen an Ultraviolet lamp to attract and kill insects, if you've gone into a Night club, you've probably seen the UV lights that cause your clothes to glow. Some bathrooms utilize ultra violet lighting to combat drug use as it becomes difficult to see veins on human skin under the effects of ultra violet lighting. 

The ink used in bank notes glows under a UV light, which is why bankers occasionally check them with ultra violet light to detect fake notes. 

Hospitals also use Ultra violet lighting to sterilize equipment and tools as it kills bacteria and microbes, in addition, if carefully monitored certain levels of Ultra violet radiation can increase the levels of Vitamin D in the body. As the Ultra violet radiation in solar rays cause the skin to darken (or tan) many use UV light beds to recreate the effects of natural sunlight and darken there skin artificially. 

X Rays

  X rays: X ray radiation waves are incredibly high frequency and carry a large amount of energy particles, able to pass through almost any surface, making them completely irreplaceable in medical science. Hospitals use X rays to permeate the body and hit an absorbent surface on the other side, leaving an imprint of the insides of the human body upon it. As bones are far denser than human tissue, a more direct imprint of the bone structure is left. 

Airports also use X rays commonly to check baggage and if needs be, passengers. This is mainly done to check for dangerous items. 

Lower energy X rays can be used to scan human tissue with as much ease as it can the bone structure. For these reasons X rays have been seeing use in medical science for years, and show no sign of changing.

Gamma Rays

Gamma Rays: Gamma rays are produced by certain radioactive substances as well as every star in the universe. Gamma rays posses the highest wavelength frequency in the Electromagnetic spectrum as well as carrying the most energy when compared to the other sources of electromagnetic radiation. Gamma rays will pass through almost any object, with lead and concrete being the only substances so far it has been shown as unable to penetrate. 

Gamma rays kill off living cells with astounding ease, making them incredibly dangerous, as well as incredibly useful to medical science. Bursts of Gamma Radiation are used to destroy cancer cells without needing to preform invasive surgery, the procedure is known as Radiotherapy and needs to be carefully monitored due to the potential leathality of Gamma rays. The radiation produced from Gamma rays is highly damaging to rapidly dividing cells, like hair follicles or cancer cells. Other uses for Gamma rays in medical science involves tracers, which means the injection, inhalation or general intake of radioactive particles in the human body, which can then be photographed, with the irradiated cells visible on the image, which can show that the body is processing the cells correctly.  

After this, I hope you will be able to see the many ways that Electromagnetic Radiation is useful to us. With all the radiation that is passing through the air right now that you were previously unaware of you may be able to view it in a more positive light. Whereas it is true that Radiation can cause illnesses, in this day and age, it's more beneficial than it is harmful.