Value chain · CLM-1439
In plain terms
Microwaves, radio waves and visible light are the same kind of thing: electromagnetic waves. What sets them apart is the length of the wave. Light waves are less than a thousandth of a millimetre long, microwaves are from a few millimetres to about a metre long, and broadcast radio waves are longer still.
The claim as recorded
A 1972 review in Proceedings of the IEEE states that ultraviolet, infrared, visible light, microwaves and radio-frequency waves "are all classified as electromagnetic waves". It lists them in one table of non-ionising electromagnetic radiations, which differ in wavelength and frequency. In its Table I, visible light spans 400 to 780 nm, microwaves 3 mm to 100 cm, and radio and television broadcast 1 m to 1000 m. In its text it calls visible light "that band of the electromagnetic spectrum from 380 to 750 nm", and it says that "The microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum extends from about 300 GHz to 100 MHz."
Evidence behind this: T2: an invited review paper in Proceedings of the IEEE (1972), read at the rendered reprint pages. It restates textbook physics in a peer-reviewed venue; it is not a measurement.
Scope and limits
The band edges are not the same throughout the paper. Visible light is 400 to 780 nm in Table I but 380 to 750 nm in the text, and the microwave band ends at 300 MHz in Table I but at 100 MHz in the text. So the edges between bands are approximate. Table I is "Partially adopted" from an earlier source. The paper is from 1972. The physics of the spectrum does not go out of date, but the paper's exposure limits and hazard findings may, and they are not part of this claim.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
PDF p.3 (printed 389), Introduction, read at the render: "These include ultraviolet (UV), infrared (IR), visible light, microwaves, and radio-frequency (RF) waves, which are all classified as electromagnetic waves." PDF p.4 (printed 390), Table I "Nonionizing Electromagnetic Radiations", read from a zoomed crop: row "Visible" 400 to 780 nm; row "Microwaves" 3 mm to 100 cm and 10^5 to 300 MHz; row "Radio/Television (broadcast)" 1 m to 1000 m and 300 KHz to 300 MHz; footnote "Partially adopted from Casey [2]." The same page, under "Biophysics": "The energies of the electromagnetic spectrum (Table I, Fig. 1) [2], [3] are propagated in the form of waves". PDF p.10 (printed 396), "Visible Energy (Light)", read at the render: "Visible light is that band of the electromagnetic spectrum from 380 to 750 nm, capable of stimulating the photoreceptors of the eye and thereby producing a sensation called vision." PDF p.20 (printed 406), "Microwaves", read at the render: "The microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum extends from about 300 GHz to 100 MHz."
Basis: wavelength in nm, mm, cm and m; frequency in MHz and GHz
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-1439
CLM-1439, Energy Aperture, as of 1972-04.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-705
- CLM-1347In 1972 a leading American review said microwaves were only known to harm people by heating them. It called the evidence for other effects...CLM-1348People feel microwave warmth only at fairly high strengths: tens of milliwatts per square centimetre for a second or so on the forehead...