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

The fundamental breakpoint is if a single photon has enough energy to ionize an atom. That adds enough energy to the elections so can leave the atom. The result is molecules can break apart and/or chemical reactions can happen. The exact limit depends on what atoms you look at but it will be in the ultraviolet range.

There has to be enough energy in a single photon, you can’t ionize an atom by hitting it with two phones of half the energy.

So longer wavelengths are nonionizing and higher is ionizing radiation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionizing_radiation

Longer wavelengths can damage you too but it will be because they transfer energy to you and heat you up. Take a magnifying glass and concentrate visible light that is not ionizing and it can damage your skin by burning it. Consider what would happen if your hand was in a microwave that did not have the safety feature of turning off when you open the door.

So radion waves can damage you if they are enough that heat you up. A single high energy photon could on the other hand hit inizer a part of a cell and the result is a change in the DNA that is not detected and the result is cancer. It is not likely but also not impossible.

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