Infrared Waves Baser 1

INFRARED WAVES

Selin Baser
Mr. Bidgood

Period.5

December 5, 2018
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Infrared Waves:

Infrared waves are electromagnetic radiation of a particular wavelength

that we have named 'infrared'.

WHAT IS INFRARED?

Infrared is a form of light that we cannot see with our eyes, but that we can

sometimes feel on our skin as heat.

When we think of light, we may imagine the glare of the Sun on a summer

day, or the soft glow of a light bulb at night, but visible light, makes up just a tiny

sliver of all the light in the world around us.

Infrared light falls just outside the visible spectrum, beyond the edge of

what we can see as red.

Sir William Herschel first discovered infrared light in 1800. He split light

into a rainbow (called a spectrum) by passing sunlight through a prism, and then

placed a thermometer in different colors in that spectrum. Unexpectedly, he found

the thermometer showed a rise in temperature, even when placed in the dark area

beyond the edge of the red light. He hypothesized that there must be more light

beyond the color red that we simply could not see with our own eyes.
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The Electromagnetic Spectrum

Light travels through the Universe as a wave, but it is rather different from the ripples we

see moving across the surface of a lake. Light waves are made up of electric and magnetic fields.

Therefore, another name for light is electromagnetic radiation. In addition, the entire spectrum

of light is similarly called the electromagnetic spectrum.

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Wavelength

The distance between the peaks of one ripple, or wave, and the next. For light, it is the

length of one full cycle, or pulse, of the electric and magnetic fields. A related property is the

frequency, or the number of waves that pass a fixed point every second. Light waves also carry

energy. Shorter wavelengths have higher energies, and longer wavelengths have lower energies.

How do we detect them?

Our eyes detect differences in the wavelength of visible light as differences in

color. Essentially, color is your brain's way of converting the different wavelengths of

light that your eyes see into something that you can quickly understand. Infrared light

that falls on your skin will cause it to warm up and you will feel the heat. In a way, this

means that your skin lets you "see" light that your eye cannot!

Heat and Light

Since we think of infrared light as something that makes us feel warm, is there a

connection between heat and light?

The real connection is that everything in the Universe that is warm also gives off light.

This is true of stars, planets, people, and even the Universe itself! Physicists call this light

blackbody radiation. Every object in the Universe, even one that is as black as a lump of

charcoal, will give off this light. Where this light falls in the spectrum, however, depends on the

temperature of the object.

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What is infrared waves used for?

Night Vision: Infrared is used in night vision equipment when there is insufficient visible light

to see. Infrared light sources can be used to augment the available ambient light for conversion

by night vision devices, increasing in-the-dark visibility without actually using a visible light

source.

Thermography: Infrared radiation can be used to remotely determine the temperature of

objects. Thermography (thermal imaging) is mainly used in military and industrial applications.

Thermographic cameras detect radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum

and produce images of that radiation.

Astronomy: Astronomers observe objects in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic

spectrum using optical components, including mirrors, lenses and solid state digital detectors.

Infrared portion is useful for observing the cores of active galaxies and detect protostars.

Heating: Infrared radiation can be used as a deliberate heating source. For example, it is used in

infrared saunas to heat the occupants and also used in other heating applications, such as to

remove ice from the wings of an aircraft. Also used for; forming of plastics, plastic welding,

print drying.

Meteorology: Weather satellites equipped with scanning radiometers produce thermal or

infrared images, which can then enable a trained analyst to determine cloud heights and types, to

calculate land and surface water temperatures.

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Art conservation and analysis: Infrared can be applied to paintings to reveal underlying layers

in a completely non-destructive manner, in particular the underdrawings or outline drawn by the

artist as a guide.

What are the disadvantages of infrared radiation?

There are some negative effects on the skin and the eye because of the infrared radiation.

In addition, it contributes on the greenhouse effect.

Eye damage

The human eye is sensitive to all radiation, including infrared radiation.IR raises the

internal temperature of the eye, virtually “baking” it. Prolonged IR exposure can lead cataracts,

corneal ulcers, and retinal burns.

Skin Damage

The infrared radiation in the sunlight damages skin. In direct sunlight, the temperature of

human skin rises to about 40°C as it converts the absorbed IR into heat.

Greenhouse Effect

The earth's surface and the clouds above it absorb radiation from the sun's rays and re-emit

it as infrared radiation back out into the atmosphere. When the air above the earth's surface has a

high concentration of water vapor, the elements such as sulfur and nitrogen and many more

chemicals has a high concentration. The infrared radiation becomes trapped near the ground.

This causes elevated temperatures and changes in the weather patterns that can harmful to people

and animals.
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References

Cato J. (2018, 4, 10). Negative effects of infrared waves

https://sciencing.com/negative-effects-infrared-waves-8592303.html

Cool Cosmos. ( 2013 ,8, 16). What is Infrared?

http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/page/what_is_infrared

Ernest Z. (2015, 7, 15). What are the negative effects of infrared radiation?
https://socratic.org/questions/what-are-the-negative-effects-of-infrared-
radiation

Lucas J. (2015, 3, 26). What is Infrared? https://www.livescience.com/50260-

infrared-radiation.html

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared

Wood D.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/infrared-waves-definition-uses-
examples.html