What causes infrared radiation?
Since the primary source of infrared radiation is heat or thermal radiation, any object which has a temperature radiates in the infrared. Even objects that we think of as being very cold, such as an ice cube, emit infrared.
Infrared radiation (IR), or infrared light, is a type of radiant energy that's invisible to human eyes but that we can feel as heat. All objects in the universe emit some level of IR radiation, but two of the most obvious sources are the sun and fire.
Infrared radiation (IR), sometimes referred to simply as infrared, is a region of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum where wavelengths range from about 700 nanometers (nm) to 1 millimeter (mm). Infrared waves are longer than those of visible light, but shorter than those of radio waves.
Infrared (IR) is a form of electromagnetic radiation that has a wavelength slightly longer than the color red in the visible light spectrum. Infrared radiation is created when objects are heated at temperatures not quite high enough to make them glow.
Infrared (IR) is a type of electromagnetic radiation, including wavelengths between the 780 nm to 1000 μm.
The word infrared means below red. It comes from the Latin word infra (meaning below) and the English word red. (Infrared light has a frequency below the frequency of red light.) Red light has the longest wavelength that human eyes can see.
Examples of Infrared Waves
TV remotes and many other remote controls use infrared emitting and sensing technology to all devices to signal and control other devices from a distance.
(a) Infra-red waves are also known as heat waves because they raise the temperature of the object on which they fall. They also affect the photographic plate and are readily absorbed by most materials. (b) Electromagnetic waves transport momentum.
Infrared light is one of the most useful forms of electromagnetic radiation. Where there is insufficient visible light, infrared enables night vision and low light devices for cameras. Infrared signals are used in certain types of data communication including television remote controls.
Infrared (IR) light is a type of electromagnetic radiation that lies between the visible end of the light spectrum, and the microwave spectrum (Vollmer and Mollmann, 2010). Its wavelength ranges from about 800 nm to 1 mm and it is emitted particularly by heated objects.
What does infrared mean in science?
infrared radiation, that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that extends from the long wavelength, or red, end of the visible-light range to the microwave range. Invisible to the eye, it can be detected as a sensation of warmth on the skin.
Infrared light is invisible to the human eye, but using an IR illuminator does make the user visible to others with night vision.

A colour-infrared (CIR), or false colour image, is composed of NIR, red and green bands, while a true colour image displays the visible red, green and blue bands. By displaying the invisible NIR band as a visible band, the NIR reflectance values can be “seen” and analysed.
Recalling that infrared light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is outside the visible light portion, special instruments are needed to detect light at these wavelengths. One such instrument is called a passive infrared sensor.
Infrared radiation is strongly absorbed by water and by the atmosphere. Although invisible to the eye, infrared radiation can be detected as warmth by the skin. Nearly 50 percent of the Sun's radiant energy is emitted in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, with the rest primarily in the visible region.
The studies, research papers and reviews of the last thirty years have been collected and examined and this review describes in more detail the main devices that use infrared: infrared thermal blankets, far-infrared thermal blanket, infrared lipo laser paddles, infrared lamps, far-infrared lamps, infrared saunas, far- ...
Infrared happens at frequencies above that of microwaves. But it's below that of visible red light. That's why it's called “infrared.” Caltech says waves of IR radiation are longer than visible light. Infrared frequencies can range anywhere from 300 gigahertz to 400 terahertz.
Infrared is radiated heat: the feeling of warmth from the sun on your face; the heat from a coal fire, or a toaster. It is even the same form of heat emitted by your own body. It is the most basic form of heating known to man.
The heat we feel from sunlight is infrared. So infrared feels hot because we sense it as heat, and because when we feel its heat, there is a lot of radiation, which makes up for its lower energy content.
Infrared imaging systems trace their origins to the year 1800 when John Frederik William Herschel's experiments on refraction of invisible rays using a prism and a monochromator discovered infrared radiation, which Herschel called “calorific rays.”
What's another word for infrared?
•infrared (noun)
infrared radiation, invisible, infrared emission, unseeable.
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: To perform a version of the experiment of 1800, in which a form of radiation other than visible light was discovered by the famous astronomer Sir Frederick William Herschel.
Infrared (IR) light is used by electrical heaters, cookers for cooking food, short-range communications like remote controls, optical fibres, security systems and thermal imaging cameras which detect people in the dark.
Science In A Minute: What is Infrared Light? - YouTube
- Night Vision. Infrared can be used to amplify light in a low-light situation to enable video recording and image capturing.
- Thermography. ...
- Tracking Technology. ...
- Meteorology. ...
- Art History. ...
- Heating.