Infrared Waves in Heaters
In depth look on what goes on with these heaters heating up your home.
WHat are infared waves?
Where is this type of radiation located on the Electromagnetic Spectrum in relation to other
kinds of radiation? What properties of the wave define why it is found within this area of the
spectrum?
Infrared Radiation
Infrared radiation is the 5th wave in the spectrum located just before visible light and right after microwaves on the electromagnetic spectrum.
This means that it has a higher wavelength (10^-5) but lesser energy compared to visible light waves It has a lower wavelength than Microwaves but greater energy, because as the wavelength increases in the spectrum the radiation energy decreases and, as the Wavelength increases, the frequency decreases.
Infrared radiation is non-ionizing radiation which is due to the low energy they produce.
Properties of infrared radiation
Wavelength
Infrared Radiation is divided into 3 sections:
IR-A(Near-infrared): 760 and 1,400nm
IR-B(mid-infrared): 1,400, and 3,000nm
IR-C(far-infrared): 3,000 nm and 1mm
The range extends from fairly small wavelengths near the color red, 700x10^-9m to nearly a millimeter, 3x10^-4m.
Frequency
The shortest wavelength of an infrared wave is about 0.7 microns. The longest wavelength of an infrared wave is about 350 microns. According to studies, the upper limit of any infrared wave is 1000 microns.
Ionization
Infrared Radiation has low amounts of energy, leading it to be non ionizing which means it wont excite molecules as much as higher energy waves such as x-rays or Gama rays.
Energy
Infrared radiation has a higher wavelengths and lower frequencies because of this it has a lower energy compared to waves with higher frequencies. The bigger the wavelength, the more energy it has.