Why is it that when people experience a radiation “burn”, their skin becomes more like a dark tan color like that of a sunburn instead of an actual burn like from a fire?

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Why is it that when people experience a radiation “burn”, their skin becomes more like a dark tan color like that of a sunburn instead of an actual burn like from a fire?

In: Biology

2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

A burn from fire is caused by heat while sunburns and radiation are from exposure to rays of “light” such as UV and gamma rays

Think grilling vs microwaving

Anonymous 0 Comments

A sunburn **is** actually a radiation burn, so that would explain your analogy. We arre “burnt” by UV radiation.

It is not a burn in the heat sense (which directly destroys cells), it’s more like direct damage to the cells DNA, and cells dying as a consequence of that.