Infrared waves

Introduction 

Infrared waves are commonly referred to as thermal or heat waves. These waves consist of heat-inducing properties with the wavelength of infrared waves ranging from 710 mm to 1mm. At times, these waves are categorised into far-infrared or near-infrared rays. Mostly, these waves are used in applications for producing large amounts of heat, such as therapeutic purposes or infrared heaters. 

In this article on infrared waves, you will get detailed information on the infrared waves, properties and characteristics of infrared waves, and other related topics. So, without further ado, let us get started with the infrared waves in the Physics study material.

 What are infrared waves? 

In simple terms, infrared waves or the thermal or heat waves that carry heat-inducing properties in themselves. These waves are mostly used to produce an extra amount of heat in several applications, including infrared heaters or to meet therapeutic purposes to meet the needs of the patient. These waves generally have a high wavelength that ranges from 710 nm to 1 mm. 

There are times when these waves are referred to as the near-infrared rays, which are mostly used in electronic applications such as photography, remote sensors, and television. However, the far-infrared rays are mostly thermal in nature, which means every product that gives out heat generates far-infrared waves. 

Properties of infrared waves 

The following are the properties of the infrared waves. Let’s have a look –

Types of infrared waves

There are mainly five types of infrared waves. These are as follows –

• Near-wavelength 

The near-wavelength is the first type of infrared wave wavelength of 0.75 to 1.4 micrometres. This type of infrared waves is mostly used in material science, fibre optic communication, and the medical industry. 

• Far-infrared 

The second type of infrared waves is the far-infrared with a wavelength of 15 to 1000 micrometres. This type of infrared waves is mostly used in cancer therapy treatment. 

• Short-wavelength 

The third type of infrared waves is the short-wavelength, whose wavelength ranges from 1.4 to 3 micrometres. This type of infrared wave is commonly used for military purposes and the telecommunications industry. 

• Mid-wavelength 

The fourth type of infrared waves is the mid-wavelength, whose wavelength ranges from 3 to 8 micrometres. This type of infrared wave is mostly used in astronomy and the chemical industry. 

• Long-wavelength 

As the name suggests, the long-wavelength is the fifth type of infrared wave whose wavelength lies between 8 to 15 micrometres. The major applications of long-wavelength include fibre optic communication and astronomical telescopes. 

Applications of infrared waves

Infrared waves are used in several applications, including remote sensing, which is taken into use in almost all weather conditions. Almost all the bodies can produce some amount of thermal energy because of which the infrared waves have opened doors for a diverse range of covert operations also. 

Warm light also comes under the infrared waves. Remember the light that falls on you when you sit near a bonfire or in the sun? These lights contain some amount of thermal energy that makes you feel warm. 

Note the heaters, especially the infrared heaters that you use at home, come under the category of infrared waves as they generate thermal energy. They are extensively used in law enforcement, scientific, industrial, medical applications, and the military. Along with this, these waves are used massively for civilian and military applications such as surveillance, target acquisition, homing, tracking, and night vision. 

Other applications that use infrared waves that are Non-military are advanced environmental monitoring, thermal efficiency analysis, prior detection of grow-ops, new industrial facility inspections, different short-range wireless communication, remote temperature sensing technology, weather forecasting, and spectroscopy. 

Conclusion 

With this, we end our study material on the infrared waves. In this Introduction to infrared waves, we studied that infrared waves are mostly used to produce extra amounts of heat in several applications, including infrared heaters or to meet therapeutic purposes to meet the needs of the patient. Its wavelength mostly ranges from 710 nm to 1 mm.

We covered Introduction to the infrared waves, infrared waves uses, properties of infrared waves, and other related topics in detail. We hope the infrared waves study material must have helped attain a greater understanding of this topic.