MCAT Flashcards: Radiation

What is radiation? Ken Tao is an MCAT expert and explains that it is heat transfer using electromagnetic waves. Radiation can occur with a vacuum or transparent solids, liquids, and gases.


Full Transcription

In this flash card video, we’re going to discuss “What is radiation?”

Radiation is heat transfer using electromagnetic waves. A good example is the sun. The sun emits electromagnetic waves that travel through space to get to the earth. If you go outside in the sun, you will feel warmth. And that’s because your body is absorbing electromagnetic waves from the sun. This is heat transfer by radiation.

Notably, the electromagnetic waves emitted by the sun travel through space which is a vacuum. This means that radiation does not require a medium to occur.

At the same time, light is able to travel through air, glass, as well as water. So this means that radiation can also occur with transparent solids, liquids, and gases.

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