The same spectrum that warms your skin and shows you the world can also burn, blind, and trigger cancer. The higher the frequency, the more energy each wave carries, and the more harm it can do.
The danger of an electromagnetic wave rises with its frequency, because higher frequency waves carry more energy. Microwaves heat the water in cells, infrared burns skin, and ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays are energetic enough to damage or mutate living cells.
The energy carried by an electromagnetic wave increases with its frequency, so the high frequency waves (ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays) carry enough energy to damage or mutate living cells.
Microwaves cause internal heating of cells, infrared causes skin burns, ultraviolet causes skin cancer and eye damage, X-rays and gamma rays cause cell mutation and cancer.
Choose a band and watch how it interacts with cells, gently for low frequencies and damagingly for the high frequency end.
Four quick checks. Each correct answer earns XP and lights this skill on your star map.
Excess exposure to which radiation can cause skin cancer and eye damage?
Microwaves are harmful to the body mainly because they cause...
Which carries the most energy per wave?
A hazard of too much infrared radiation is...
Each region affects the body differently, and the harm grows toward the high frequency end of the spectrum.
| Radiation | Harmful effect |
|---|---|
| Microwaves | Internal heating of body cells |
| Infrared | Skin burns from excess heating |
| Ultraviolet | Damage to surface cells and eyes, skin cancer |
| X-rays and gamma rays | Mutation of cells, cancer |
It is the high frequency end of the spectrum, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays, that is the most dangerous, because the energy carried rises with frequency. Microwaves do not scorch like a flame; they heat the water inside cells from within.
Unlocks once the four checks above are done. Worth more XP, written in the style of Paper 2.
Ultraviolet radiation is more dangerous to the skin than visible light because it...
Which list places the radiations in order of increasing harm to living cells?
Repeated exposure to X-rays and gamma rays is dangerous chiefly because they can...
The hazards of the spectrum are mapped. Keep the chain going.