Ultraviolet UV light falls in the range of the EM spectrum between visible light and Xrays UV light which comes from the sun is invisible to the human eye It makes blacklight posters glow and is responsible for summer tans and sunburns ID: 655236
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Slide1
UV LightSlide2
Ultraviolet Light
Ultraviolet (UV) light falls in the range of the EM spectrum between visible light and X-rays
UV
light, which comes from the sun, is invisible to the human eye
.
It
makes black-light posters glow, and is responsible for summer tans — and sunburns
.
However, too much exposure to UV radiation is damaging to living tissue. Slide3
Ultraviolet Light
It
has frequencies of about 8 × 10
14
to 3 × 10
16 hertz (Hz), and wavelengths of about 380 nanometers to about 10 nm.Slide4
Ultraviolet Light
UV is generally divided into three sub-bands:
UVA
, or near UV (315–400 nm);
UVB
, or middle UV (280–315 nm)UVC, or far UV (180–280 nm
)Slide5
Ultraviolet Light
Radiations with wavelengths from 10 nm to 180 nm are sometimes referred to as vacuum or extreme UV.
These wavelengths are blocked by air, and they only propagate in a vacuum.Slide6
UV Ionization
UV radiation has enough energy to break chemical bonds.
Due
to their higher energies, UV photons can cause ionization, a process in which electrons break away from atoms.
The
resulting vacancy affects the chemical properties of the atoms and causes them to form or break chemical bonds that they otherwise would not. Slide7
UV Ionization
This
can be useful for chemical processing, or it can be damaging to materials and living tissues.
This
damage can be beneficial, for instance, in disinfecting surfaces, but it can also be harmful, particularly to skin and eyes, which are most adversely affected by higher-energy UVB and UVC radiation. Slide8
UV Effects
Most of the natural UV light people encounter comes from the sun.
However
, only about 10 percent of sunlight is UV, and only about one-third of this penetrates the atmosphere to reach the
ground.Slide9
UV Effects
Of the solar UV energy that reaches the equator, 95 percent is UVA and 5 percent is UVB.
No
measurable UVC from solar radiation reaches the Earth's surface, because ozone, molecular oxygen and water vapor in the upper atmosphere completely absorb the shortest UV wavelengths.
Still
, "broad-spectrum ultraviolet radiation [UVA and UVB] is the strongest and most damaging to living thingsSlide10
Sunburn
A suntan is a reaction to exposure to harmful UVB rays.
Essentially
, a suntan results from the body's natural defense mechanism kicking in.
This
consists of a pigment called melanin, which is produced by cells in the skin called melanocytes. Slide11
Sunburn
Melanin absorbs UV light and dissipates it as heat.
When
the body senses sun damage, it sends melanin into surrounding cells and tries to protect them from sustaining more damage.
The
pigment causes the skin to darken. Slide12
Sunburn
However, continued exposure to UV radiation can overwhelm the body's defenses.
When
this happens, a toxic reaction occurs, resulting in
sunburn
. UV rays can damage the DNA in the body's cells.
The
body senses this destruction and floods the area with blood to help with the healing process.
Painful
inflammation occurs as well. Usually within half a day of overindulging in the sun, the characteristic red-lobster look of a sunburn begins to make itself known, and felt.Slide13
Sunburn
Sometimes the cells with DNA mutated by the sun's rays turn into problem cells that don't die but keep proliferating as
cancers.
The
UV light causes random damages in the DNA and DNA repair process such that cells acquire the ability to avoid
dying.Slide14
Sunburn
The
result is skin cancer, the most common form of cancer in the United States.
People
who get sunburned repeatedly are at much higher risk.
The risk for the deadliest form of skin cancer, called melanoma
, doubles for someone who has received five or more
sunburns.Slide15
Other Sources of UV
Artificial sources
include:
tanning booths
black lights
curing lamps germicidal
lamps
mercury
vapor
lamps
halogen lightsSlide16
Fluorescence
Many substances — including minerals, plants, fungi and microbes, as well as organic and inorganic chemicals — can absorb UV radiation.
Absorption
causes electrons in the material to jump to a higher energy level.
These
electrons can then return to a lower energy level in a series of smaller steps, emitting a portion of their absorbed energy as visible light. Slide17
Fluorescence
Materials
used as pigments in paint or dye that exhibit such fluorescence appear brighter under sunlight because they absorb invisible UV light and re-emit it at visible wavelengths.
For
this reason they are commonly used for signs, safety vests and other applications in which high visibility is important. Slide18
Fluorescence
In
fluorescent tubes used for lighting,
ultraviolet
radiation with a wavelength of 254 nm is produced along with the blue light that is emitted when an electric current is passed through mercury
vapor. This ultraviolet radiation is invisible but contains more energy than the visible light emitted. Slide19
Fluorescence
The energy from the ultraviolet light is absorbed by the fluorescent coating inside the fluorescent lamp and re-emitted as visible light.
Similar tubes without the same fluorescent coating emit UV light that can be used to disinfect surfaces, since the ionizing effects of UV radiation can kill most bacteria. Slide20
Fluorescence
Black-light tubes typically use mercury vapor to produce long-wave UVA light, which causes certain dyes and pigments to fluoresce.
The
glass tube is coated with a dark-purple filter material to block most of the visible light, making the fluorescent glow appear more pronounced.
This
filtering is not needed for applications such as disinfecting.