Infrared vs Ultraviolet: A Historical and Technical Comparison
For centuries, humankind has been fascinated by the invisible rays of light beyond the visible color spectrum. In 1800, astronomer William Herschel discovered the existence of infrared rays through heat emitted by sunlight. Just one year later in 1801, chemist Johann Wilhelm Ritter uncovered ultraviolet light through experiments with silver chloride solutions.
These milestone discoveries kicked off scientific curiosity about infrared and ultraviolet light – two forms of electromagnetic radiation that border the narrow band of frequencies our eyes can see. But besides their adjacency on the spectrum, how exactly do infrared and ultraviolet compare and contrast? This guide will analyze the key qualities of each, real-world applications, potential health hazards, and determine which offers more usefulness.
Defining Infrared and Ultraviolet Light
First, let‘s clearly define what we mean by infrared and ultraviolet, and where they fall on the electromagnetic spectrum.
The electromagnetic spectrum categorizes different types of electromagnetic radiation by wavelength and frequency. This spans from long radio waves at one end, through microwaves, infrared, the visible light rainbow, ultraviolet, X-rays, and finally short, high-frequency gamma rays at the other extreme.
Infrared sits between microwaves and visible red light, while ultraviolet exists between violet visible light and X-rays. Here‘s a quick comparison of their places on the EM spectrum:
Infrared:
- Wavelength range: 700nm – 1mm
- Frequency range: 430THz – 300GHz
- Energy levels: 1.24meV – 1.7eV
Ultraviolet:
- Wavelength range: 10nm – 400nm
- Frequency range: 30PHz – 750THz
- Energy levels: 3eV – 124eV
From this we can already see major differences in wavelength size, frequency, and energy levels when comparing infrared vs ultraviolet. Though both are invisible to human sight, UV has much smaller, higher frequency wavelengths that emit more energy.
Early Experiments and Discoveries
Infrared and ultraviolet also have distinctly different origin stories and discovery timelines…
