X-rays pass through soft tissue but are absorbed by bone
X-rays produce radiographs
Gamma radiation is electromagnetic radiation from radioactive substances
Gamma rays can be
used to kill harmful
bacteria in food, sterilise
surgical equipment and to
kill cancer cells
Visible light and ultraviolet radiation
Light from the Sun and light bulbs is called white light,
because it has all colours of the visible spectrum on it
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation makes some chemicals emit light
UV radiation is harmful to the human eye and can cause blindness
UV radiation comes from the Sun, and too much of it can cause skin cancer
Infra-red waves, microwaves and radio waves
All objects emit infra-red radiation
The hotter an object is the more radiation it emits
Infra-red radiation is absorbed by the skin, which kills skin cells as they heat up
Infra-red devices include heaters and remote controls
Microwaves are shorter than radio waves in
wavelength, even though they come before
radio waves in the electromagnetic spectrum.
This is why they are called microwaves
We use microwaves for
communication and heating food in
microwave ovens
Radio waves are longer in wavelength
than microwaves – but appear after
microwaves in the electromagnetic
spectrum because they have a lower
frequency
We use radio
waves to carry
radio, TV and mobile
phone signals
Radio waves are emitted from an aerial
Analogue and digital signals
The electromagnetic spectrum
The wavelength of a wave is the distance
from one wave peak to the next wave peak
along the waves
The frequency is the number of
complete waves passing a point
per second
We measure frequency in the
unit of hertz (Hz) when:
- 1 Hz = 1 complete wave per second
- 1 Hz = 1 complete wave per second
- 1 kilohertz (kHz) = 1000 Hz
- 1 megahertz (MHz) =
1,000,000 Hz
The speed of a wave is worked out by using:
wave speed (m/s) = frequency (Hz) x
wavelength (m)
Alternatively, the
frequency can be worked
out by using:
frequency = wave speed (in m/s)
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wavelength (in metres)