Why are some wavelengths of EM radiation dangerous, and others not?

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As I understand it, the only real difference between radio, visible light, x-ray and everything in between is its wavelength. For instancew, radio has a very long wavelength, x-ray very short, visible in the middle somewhere. This means that radio can penetrate stuff (matter?) more effectively, among other things.

Radio waves are (essentially?) harmless, but shorter wavelengths are famously more dangerous, from sunburn all the way to straight up cancer and so forth. Why is that?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Shorter wavelength light is more energetic. Going from lower to higher energy, microwaves can cause molecules to rotate, IR causes vibration. The rotation and vibration make the molecules move quickly, hence why IR and microwaves are used for heating. Then come visible light. Beyond visible light you have UV. UV light is where you can start ripping electrons out of molecules. This creates radicals, which are highly reactive and can do all sorts of interesting chemistry that you would rather not have done inside of you. X-rays and gamma rays are even more powerful.

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