Everyone knows nuclear radiation is harmful when exceeding a certain limit. Is it different from other forms of radiation such as electromagnetic radiation from electronic devices? Like if I got blasted with some sort of super WiFi would I be harmed in the same way as nuclear radiation?
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Electromagnetic radiation is a very broad spectrum, literally. Nuclear radiation, light, heat and radio waves are all electromagnetic radiation, the difference is only their place on the electromagnetic spectrum, ergo their frequency. The lower their frequency, the less energy they have per photon.
A photon can be seen as a ball of pure energy. A photon of nuclear radiation has enough energy to split the molecules that make up your dna. If you put multiple photons of “WiFi” radiation together, you could (in theory) reach the same amount of energy, but they would have to strike simultaneously and in the same spot and that’s just not happening. In reality they will strike in different spots and at different times and their energy is spread out evenly through your body. If by this process you reach the point where your dna gets damaged, you’ve probably already been cooked to death.
Electromagnetic waves only make up the Gamma-radiation of nuclear radiation. There are also Alpha- and Beta-radiation, which are fast moving particles that can also transmit a lot of energy and damage your dna, but they have to be inside your body to do that. Because they are particles they are rather easily shielded, so a sheet of paper or even your very own skin can catch all the Alpha-radiation and a 1 mm sheet of aluminium is enough to catch all the Beta-radiation, so in most situations they are easier to deal with.
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