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Infrared radiation is popularly known as "heat radiation", [31] but light and electromagnetic waves of any frequency will heat surfaces that absorb them. Infrared light from the Sun accounts for 49% [ 32 ] of the heating of Earth, with the rest being caused by visible light that is absorbed then re-radiated at longer wavelengths.
For a tungsten filament at a typical temperature of 3000 K, only a small fraction of the emitted radiation is visible, and the majority is infrared light. This infrared light does not help a person see, but still transfers heat to the environment, making incandescent lights relatively inefficient as a light source. [25]
Incandescent light bulbs use a tungsten filament heated to high temperature to produce visible light and, necessarily, even more infrared radiation. Round bulbs, often tinted red to reduce visible light, provide infrared radiant heat suitable for warming of people or animals, but the power density available is low.
An infrared heater or heat lamp is a heating appliance containing a high-temperature emitter that transfers energy to a cooler object through electromagnetic radiation. Depending on the temperature of the emitter, the wavelength of the peak of the infrared radiation ranges from 750 nm to 1 mm.
Infrared radiation in the spectral distribution of a black body is usually considered a form of heat, since it has an equivalent temperature and is associated with an entropy change per unit of thermal energy. However, "heat" is a technical term in physics and thermodynamics and is often confused with thermal energy.
Infrared light can be broken up into three categories: near, mid, and far infrared, each offering different wavelengths and energies that may benefit the body in various ways. What is an infrared ...
For example, white paint absorbs very little visible light. However, at an infrared wavelength of 10×10 −6 metre, paint absorbs light very well, and has a high emissivity. Similarly, pure water absorbs very little visible light, but water is nonetheless a strong infrared absorber and has a correspondingly high emissivity.
Infrared or red radiation from a common household radiator or electric heater is an example of thermal radiation, as is the heat emitted by an operating incandescent light bulb. Thermal radiation is generated when energy from the movement of charged particles within atoms is converted to electromagnetic radiation.