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X-Rays Compared to Radio Waves

While you probably don't often stop to think about it, both radio waves and X-rays are all around you -- from the dentist snapping an image of your cavities to the cellular tower down the street. While both are forms of electromagnetic radiation and can be defined in terms of wavelength and frequency, they can behave differently and have different effects.

Electromagnetic Spectrum
- Both radio waves and X-rays are emissions that fall along the electromagnetic spectrum, a form of energy that travels in waves and spreads out as it goes along. The spectrum is comprised of radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays. All of these forms of radiation occur in nature and can also be produced artificially.
Radio Waves
- Radio waves fall on the lowest end of the electromagnetic spectrum. They are low in frequency and long in wavelength, though they range greatly in both -- from frequencies as low as 3 kHz and a wavelength of 100 km, to 300 GHz and 1 mm. These waves can be used for everything from communication, broadcasting radio and TV, and even cooking your food -- microwave ovens are high-powered, super-high-frequency radio transmitters. Radio waves even occur naturally -- for example, the planet Jupiter cranks out trillions of watts between 18 to 32 MHz thanks to its powerful magnetic field. Radio waves below 30 MHz are generally absorbed or reflected by the Earth's ionosphere, whereas waves between 50 MHz and 300 GHz tend to pass through it.
X-Rays
- Appearing much higher on the electromagnetic spectrum, X-rays are very high in frequency and very short in wavelength, on the order of 30 petahertz and 10 nanometers to 30 exahertz and 0.01 nanometers. X-rays are very high-energy and are a type of ionizing radiation. Apart from their uses for imaging the human body and investigating the contents of your luggage at the airport, X-rays are also found in nature -- emanating, for example, from black holes and the collision of galaxies. Earth's atmosphere protects people from the vast majority of these cosmic X-rays.
Safety Concerns
- Since radio waves are non-ionizing radiation, they pose little risk to humans at the energy levels at which you normally encounter them. At high power levels, lower frequency radio waves can induce electrical currents in conductive materials such as metal, and higher frequency waves can cause heating effects -- such as a microwave oven -- but overall, millions of radio waves pass through you every day with no harmful effects whatsoever.
  
  X-rays are of a high enough energy level that they can strip electrons from atoms, and therefore are a form of ionizing radiation. While X-rays can perform helpful feats such as allowing doctors to find broken bones and even kill cancerous tumors, they can also cause damage to DNA, the building block of all life. However, used responsibly and in moderation, the benefits of X-rays still outweigh the risks and dangers.

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