Ultraviolet (UV) Rays
-with frequencies ranging 8x 1014 Hz to 1017 Hz. Wavelengths from 6 x 10-10m
to 4 x 10-7 m
-Discovered by Johann Wilhem Ritter
-Three kind of UV : UVA, UVB, UBC
-UVA has a wavelength range of 315 nanometer (10 -9 of a meter) to 400 nm;
UVB, from 280 nm to 314 nm, and UVC, from 279 nm to 60 nm.
-UVC is almost completely absorbed by the atmosphere and does not reach
the Earth’s surface.
-UVB is filtered by the ozone in the atmosphere
-UVA accounts for 95% of the solar UV reaching the Earth
-Sun the major source of UV rays
APPLICATIONS
- Special lamps also emits UV rays. UV lights, more popularly known as
“black light”, are used to detect forged bank notes, fake moneys and
signature
-Blacklight IS USED DURING FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS AT CRIME SCENE , in
procedures like searching for traces of blood and other body fluids,
fingerprints, and footprints.
-it is also used to sterilize medical equipment and purify water
-It is also used in pest- control devices and fly traps
_ it also used in theaters to produce the “glow in the dark” effect.
MEDICAL APPLICATIONS
-UVA is used to treat skin conditions like psoriasis and vitiligo that cause
pigmentation of parts of the skin. UV stimulates the production of Vit. D in
our body.
X-RAYS
-Sometimes called Roentgen rays, after their discoverer, the German
Physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen.
-The letter X is normally used to represent an unknown quantity. Roentgen
called the rays he discovered because he did not know their nature or origin.
-Classified as either soft or hard, wavelengths ranging from 10 -12m to 10-8 m.
-Soft x-rays can penetrate soft substances like flesh and bones.
-Hard x-rays are more penetrating than the soft obnes and used mainly in
industries.
-X-rays are produced by the sun and other stars. They are also produced
when accelerated electrons hit a metal and some medical equipment.
APPLICATIONS
-Used to detect abnormalities in the skeletal system like fractures and
tumors
-They are also used in dental imaging. Aside from taking photographs of our
internal body parts, as in Computer Axial Tomography (CAT), x-rays are used
in airport security checks to see the inside of passenger luggage.
-They are also used to study the arrangement of atoms in a crystal by a
process called Diffraction.
GAMMA RAYS
-gamma rays is given off by radioactive materials like Cobalt-60 and Cesium-
137. Astronomical objects, including the sun, clouds of interstellar matter
and remnants of supernova, are sources of gamma rays.
-Gamma rays are. highly penetrating because of their very short
wavelengths, ranging from less than 10-14 m to 10-10. Paul Villard, a French
chemist and physicist, is recognized having discovered gamma rays in 1900.
APPLICATIONS
- Gamma rays are used in industries to detect cracks in metals and to
sterilize equipment and commercial products.
- Non- contact industrial sensors using gamma sources are used in the
refining, mining, chemical, food, soaps and detergents, as well as pulp
and paper industries to control volume levels, density, and thickness.
- Food irradiation with gamma rays kills bacteria, insects and parasites
that can cause foodborne diseases.
- In agriculture, gamma radiation helps breed new seed varieties with
higher yields. Examples of these are the “miracle” rice that has greatly
expanded rice production in Asia and some varieties of cashew,
magosteen, and pine apple.
- Gamma radiation is also used to eradicate pests like fruit flies.
- MEDICAL APPLICATION
- Used to treat/destroy cancel cells in a process called ‘Radiotherapy”.
The procedure maybe external or internal.
- In external radiotherapy, the patient is exposed to a beam of radiation.
Gamma knife surgery and stereotactic radiotherapy are examples
- In internal radiotherapy, radiation comes from implants or liquids
placed inside the body. This is sometimes called “Brachytherapy”
- In a nuclear medicine scan, a small amount of radioactive material, or
tracer , is injected into or taken orally by the patient. A special camera
(gamma camera) is then moved along the part of the body to be
scanned to take images of it.
EFFECTS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION ON LIVING THINGS
Based on its energy, EM radiation maybe Ionizing or Non-ionizing.
-Ionizing radiation has sufficient energy to induce (start) Ionization.
-Ionization is the process of removing electrons from neutral atoms.
-Exposure to HIGH-LEVEL ionizing radiation may cause either an IMMEDIATE
EFFECT OR DELAYED EFFECT.
-An immediate effect can be death or radiation burns. Ionizing radiation can
produce molecular chanages that can lead to damage in biological tissues ,
including effects on DNA.
-Delayed effects can be cancer or mutations, which maybe on the person
exposed to radiation or to his/her offspring. This is evident from the higher
incidence of cancer and deformity experienced by the survivors of atomic
bombings and nuclear fallouts.
-Ionizing radiation includes x-rays and gamma rays.
-Non-ionizing includes radiowaves,microwaves,IR, Visible light and UV.
-Though considered less dangerous, non- ionizing radiation poses
some health issues:
-Both radiowaves and microwaves can interfere with pacemaker, a medical
device that uses electrical impulses to help regulate the beating of the heart.
-MICROWAVES are known to cause cataracts so we should not form the habit
of pressing out our face against a microwave oven to see if the food is
cooked already.
-Over exposure to IR waves can lead to burns and pains.
-EXCESSIVE EXPOSURE TO VISIBLE LIGHT, specially in the blue region can
cause eye daage. LASERS can cause blindness. Exposure to sudden burst of
intense light, such as from flashbulbs in a camera, can laead to flash
blindness that can last for seconds up to a minute.
-TOO MUCH EXPOSURE TO UV RAYS burns our skin and produces the so-
called sun tan.
-UV rays can also cause skin cancer. It can also damge our retina, so be sure
that your sunglasses are UV -protected.
remember the probability some of the negative effects of electromagnetic
radiation ON HUMANS DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH RADIATION WE ARE
EXPOSED AND FOR HOW LONG.
EFFECTS OF EM RADIATION ON ENVIRONMENT
The green house effect resulting from the increased concentration of
greenhouse gases as a result of human activity is called ENHANCED EFFECT.
Also known as ANTHROPOGENIC GREENHOUSE EFFECT.
=The more greenhouse gasses there are in the atmosphere, the greater the
amount of trapped infrared waves and the greater the rise in temperature. It
is the enhanced greenhouse effect that leads to GLOBAL WARMING.
-With the thinning of the ozone layer, high levels of UV rays can penetrate
the Earth. It can also disrupt the organisms that depend on them. Plankton
sinks deeper into the water when exposed to too much UV. This will decrease
the mounte of visible light plankton receives, thereby hindering
photosynthesis and growth.
-Interference from electronics and AM radio signals can disrupt the internal
magnetic compasses of migratory birds.
-Ionizing radiation that comes from nuclear materials may result in the
weakening of plants seeds and mutations.