Light quanta and sunburn – An introduction to quantum physics 2024

Reading time: 18 minutes

Is sunbathing dangerous? - sunburn
Sunbathing: Dangerous?

THINGS TO KNOW Summer is over, the sun is lower above the horizon, and the sun’s radiation becomes weaker overall. The probability of getting a sunburn also decreases significantly. But what is the actual reason for this? Why can’t you get sunburn from visible light and where does it come from instead? In a nutshell, the physical answer is: It has to do with the radiation spectrum of our sun and the size of energy packets. And with that we are already in the middle of quantum physics.

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