Gamma rays Gamma rays have the shortest wave lengths out of all the waves in the electro

magnetic spectrum their wave length is 0.0001 nanometres. They also hold the most energy and the highest frequency. Gamma rays are extremely dangerous and unreliable so they dont have many everyday uses. A semi common use of gamma rays would be it being used to kill cancerous cells in the body in the operation beams of gamma rays is fired onto the cancerous body to kill them the procedure is called gamma knife surgery ironically gamma rays can also cause cancer. They have also started to being used to screen containers on ships for stowaways. A specialist use for gamma rays also include changing the properties of stones changing white topaz into blue topaz another process called irradiation involves sterilizing medical equipment. Some interesting facts about gamma radiation are that it can be blocked by thick lead sheets or concrete walls another interesting fact is that gamma ray bursts can release more energy in 10 seconds than the Sun will emit in its entire 10 billionyear lifetime. X-rays X rays have the second shortest wave lengths out of all the waves in the electro magnetic spectrum their wave length in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers. One every day use of x rays are that they can be used to screen the bone structures for anything abnormal and also to screen soft tissue like the brain this process in more commonly known as a CAT scan. Like gamma rays it can be blocked with lead screens x rays can also be used for dental screening. X rays can be used for inspecting industrial parts and screening people and baggage in airports as well as fine art photography and screening trucks and vans for border security .some interesting facts about x ray radiation is that they were first observed and documented in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen a German scientist who found them by accident when experimenting with vacuum tubes. They can also like gamma rays cause cell mutation damage and cancer Ultra violet radiation rays UV rays have the third shortest wave lengths out of all the waves in the electro magnetic spectrum their wave length in the range of 10 nm to 400 nm. One everyday use of UV rays is that it can be used in tanning booth and salons another is that it can help prevent counterfeiters from duplicating some documents like money and credit cards when these documents are exposed UV light then a symbol or insignia will appear. They can also be used for laser engraving in industry. A danger from sun bathing is that when you get sun burnt the increased production of pigments is caused by damage to the DNA. UV radiation can be split into different categories like UVA UVB and UVC as well as other categories UVB triggers the

production of vitamin D in the skin. UVC is harmful but is blocked by the gas called ozone (O3) in the atmosphere it lets in UVA UVB and infrared radiation while blocking harmful UVC but gases called chlorofluorocarbons released by some fridges and aerosols break the bonds between the oxygen atoms. Visible light Visible light rays have the fourth shortest wave lengths out of all the waves in the electro magnetic spectrum their wave length in the range of 390 nm to 720 nm. They are the only type of waves we can see. They can be used to see things with. They were discovered by Isaac Newton when he used a prism to bend white light into the visible spectrum he described 7 colours because he liked the idea of seven colours. They are used to make things look better. There are two different types of visible light true colour and false colour. Infrared radiation Infrared radiation has the fifth shortest wave lengths out of all the waves in the electro magnetic spectrum their wave length in the range of 700 nm to 0.01 centimetres. It is also knows as thermal radiation because it can show heat. It can be used for night vision and thermal imagery for military uses and communication. Some ordinary purposes are tanning beds and radiators. The earth also radiates infrared radiation because it is absorbed by the suns rays the earth is heated up by these rays. Microwaves Microwaves are the second longest wave lengths out of all the waves in the electro magnetic spectrum their wave length is about 0.3 to is some cases 30 centimetres because microwaves can penetrate light rain and snow, clouds and smoke, these waves are good for viewing the Earth from space was discovered by accident by scientists in bell laboratories 1960s it was discovered when they were trying to detect other types of radiation they heard the background microwave radiation. Radio waves Radio waves have the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. These waves can be longer than a football field or as short as a football. Radio waves bring music to your radio. They also carry signals for your television and cellular phones. Astronomers have developed sophisticated systems that allow them to make pictures from the radio waves emitted by astronomical objects. Radio waves look towards the sky and observe planets comets nebulae and galaxies. They can be detected by radio dishes which sometimes are 64 meters wide.