Question

1. Is the light in your room emitting harmful electromagnetic waves?

Answer 1

Light is electromagnetic radiation, but not harmful.

Answer 2

it really depends on the kind of lught bulbs you use

Answer 3

Light is never harmful.

Answer 4

@Miranda_Esquivel210 It doesn't depend on any light bulb you use...light emitted by every light bulb is within the visible light range of the spectrum. Visible right is not harmful.

Answer 5

This looks like a physics question rather than math... possibly another topic like health. Would depend on the context.

Answer 6

I'd say that some frequencies of UV or IR are not harmful either.

Answer 7

yes it can be harmful, we studied this last semester. There's cetain numbers of radiation that can come from certain light bulbs that can be harmful to people, but it wouldnt be the type of light bulbs you use in your house

Answer 8

What kind of radiation are you talking about? That is incorrect.

Answer 9

It would be true if those bulbs emit a DIFFERENT type of radiation aside from visible light.

Answer 10

http://www.spittal.me.uk/wiki/images/c/c1/Emspectrum.jpg

Answer 11

@ParthKohli Fluorescent bulbs emit UV radiation.

Answer 12

Maybe she is thinking about the radioactivity from radioactive decay.

Answer 13

Why You Need To Know A Little Something About High Frequency Currents

You may be asking why would our readers need to know these things? That comes really soon, so be careful what you wish for. (Just kidding.) As I mentioned earlier, a new radiation threat is upon us all. In lieu of this, I must begin by emphasizing the ‘radio’ and ‘radiant’ roots for the word radiation. They ultimately are descriptions of the same phenomena: radiant energy in the form of electromagnetic waves of pulsating energy. So, how does the energy actually radiate itself outward? The truth is, we don’t really understand that part.

Physicists have pulled their hair out for decades over that question. What we do know is that when things vibrate at a nuclear level or have electrical current changes, then these changes of state ― these frequencies ― cause energy to be radiated outward at the same frequencies. This is how radio transmissions work. Radio transmissions merely mix the audio (voice) signal with an exact frequency that listening radios are “tuned” for, and viola! Or as my past electronics teachers would have said, in their fancy-smancy engineering terms: “It will have imparted intelligence upon the carrier wave”.

A good analogy of how frequencies operate is remembering the ripples from a time when you dropped a pebble into a small creek or pond. You may recall that the ripples were reflected from the banks at exactly the same rate and distance as the original waves that struck them. The whole point of this paragraph is to make clear that the very basis of radiant energy transmissions and all types of radiation on the entire electromagnetic spectrum boil down to one thing: frequencies. Frequencies determine how far the energy travels, how well it penetrates, and how it effects things.

The ultra high frequencies of gamma (ie. nuclear) radiation will quickly destroy a person through burns, cancer, or otherwise; while the low 60 Hz. of standard American power has little effect in typical exposure. Frequency determines if the energy is radio, microwave, infrared light, visible light, x-rays, gamma, or ultraviolet. There is real power in frequencies. No pun intended. As a general rule, the higher the frequency, the more dangerous the energy is. Nuclear radiation is at a really high frequency, for example.

For years, we have heard about how incandescent bulbs are bad for the environment. This made way for a whole new industry of “green” bulbs, marketed to the growing portion of people who seek to address environmental concerns. However, they actually compromise people’s health, and are ultimately more harmful to the environment.

Answer 14

high efficiency light bulbs are harmful

Answer 15

But visible light itself is harmless. The photons of visible light don't have enough energy to break chemical bonds in the cells of the human body.

Answer 16

The UV you are talking about is not far away from visible light.

Gamma rays are from radioactive decay.

Answer 17

@theEric Have a look at this utterances

Answer 18

As I suspected. Your essay is of the nuclear radiation which is not caused by light bulbs, but elements with big atoms.

Answer 19

"There is real power in frequencies. No pun intended."

WOT

Answer 20

One problem is that people think radiation means nuclear. However, many heaters work by radiation. The term has multiple uses. Harmful radiation actually covers a wide range of things. Some people have used this ambiguity in the term to equivocate on the level of danger some things like light bulbs produce, which is what Parth is pointing out.

Answer 21

Radiation is ANYTHING that does not require a medium to travel.

Answer 22

@ParthKohli THANK YOU!

Answer 23

Exactly! You can get burned by a heat lamp, which means it is a form of harmful radiation. But we also use them to heat rooms and prevent people from freezing... so it is good or bad? Depends on the use.

Answer 24

@12333180, any comments?

I agree with @e.mccormick .
1. This is not math, at least not in the current context. A more appropriate location would be a health forum or the physics forum.
2. Light bulbs of different types emit a variety of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, some of which are out of the visible spectrum.

And this is an interesting post...

Answer 25

The higher frequencies are harmful only because they have more energy (energy is directly related to frequency with Planck's constant in mind) which eventually may get converted into heat or something.

Answer 26

So the thing that is harmful is not EMR, but other forms of energy.

Answer 27

They need physics education.

Answer 28

Congratulations on the 75! And indeed, this was taught in my freshman year.