You can only read these words that I have written because your screen is emitting light in a precise pattern which your eyes detect as words, but did you know that your screen is also beaming a type of light into your eyes that you cannot see? This type of light is what we call infrared.
Technically, your computer screen isn’t the only thing in your room emitting infrared light; everything in that room, including yourself, is emitting infrared light. This is happening because all matter that is above absolute zero emits light, and the frequency of that light is determined by the temperature of the matter in question; this effect is known as Wien’s Law.
I guess it should also be noted that I’m only saying that your room is mostly emitting infrared light because I’m assuming your room is between the temperatures of -455ºF and 6,200ºF, which is the range in which the peak wavelength of the emitted light lands in the infrared spectrum.
The Types of Light
As the temperature of matter increases, the wavelength of the emitted light — which is scientifically known as blackbody radiation — decreases. This means that the light waves become smaller as the object becomes hotter, meaning the hotter an object is, the more energetic the light it emits becomes.
Theoretically, an object at absolute zero would emit light with an infinitely long wavelength, and an object with infinite temperature would emit light with an infinitely short wavelength, however, these scenarios are impossible.
What is possible is almost anything between those two extremes. Theoretically, matter can exist at any temperature between -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit (absolute zero) and 142 nonillion degrees Fahrenheit (Planck temperature). This is because matter that is just above absolute zero would emit light with a wavelength that is not quite infinitely long, and matter that is just below Planck temperature — also known as absolute hot — would emit light with a wavelength that is not quite as short as a Planck length, which is believed to be the shortest possible length.
You will almost never encounter matter near either one of these extremes, but what you are more likely to encounter is matter that emits light within the more conventional spectrum. Here is the conventional spectrum of light from longest to shortest wavelength, omitting the theoretical extremes.
- Radio
- Microwave
- Infrared
- Visible
- Ultraviolet
- X-Ray
- Gamma Ray
The visible light that our eyes can detect is just a narrow section of all the light that exists.
Light is not much more than streams of photons, which themselves are minute, energy-carrying waves that radiate through the electric and magnetic fields; this is why these waves are called electromagnetic radiation.
In all technicality, you could say that every form of electromagnetic radiation is a form of light, which means that every type of electromagnetic radiation is a color, however, because the narrow slice of the electromagnetic spectrum that we call visible light has so many colors of its own, we can reasonably assume that each type of electromagnetic radiation has its own array of colors. The only problem is that our eyes are not designed to detect these types of light.
This concept does produce a humorous perception, as you could say that you heated food using microwave-colored light, or that you listened to music which was transmitted to your radio via invisible colors of light that are broadcasted 24/7.
Which is your favorite invisible color?
Onward American 