What is Full Spectrum Light?

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All of us know that light is white, at least the light that comes from the sun. We have also studied how putting a prism in the path of sunlight will split it into its component colors. Thus the white light we see is actually based on a number of different colored light all combined into one.

What most of us do not know is that light as such is an electromagnetic radiation, and therefore has a wavelength. Depending on how large this wavelength is the color of the light differs. Thus red light is light in the range of 1500 to 2000 ºK while dark blue to purple light is about 8000 ºK. White light is around 4000 to 4200 ºK.

The ºK is there because the radiation is measured in temperature, and when it comes to light it is called color temperature. So if we take any light bulb, if we’re interested enough we can find out what the color temperature is for the light that it emits.

For example a low pressure sodium vapor lamp emits light around the 2700 ºK mark, while a high pressure sodium vapor lamp emits light up to 6000 ºK. Even here the color rendering is not constant because there are large gaps in-between in the radiation.

Fluorescent light on the other hand gives better color rendering and although we can see only white light, the light is available between 2700 and 6000 ºK for the warm white ones and between 4000 and 8000 ºK for the cool white ones.

Xenon lights are the best when it comes to color rendering and give out a full spectrum light which means that the light that it emits encompasses the full range of the visible and invisible spectrum. Of course it is still not equal to the sun. It is however the closest in terms of artificial light to the sun.

Getting full spectrum light is not easy artificially. Nowadays LED’s are used because it is possible to combine a number of different colors to obtain the color spectrum that is wanted. With the pace of advancements in lighting technology however the day when we are able to mimic the sun and get full spectrum light is not far.

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What is the Electromagnetic Spectrum?

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There are a number of different kinds of radiation with electromagnetic radiation being one of them. It is called electromagnetic radiation because it has both an electrical as well as a magnetic component. The sun is the largest emitter of electromagnetic particles that is close to the Earth.

These particles all have a frequency or wavelength, and they are classified based on the wavelength. Thus the lower end of the scale has the Radio waves, while the upper end has gamma rays.

There are particles that have a bigger wavelength even than radio waves with wavelengths that can cover hundreds of kilometers. These waves however are not useful to us which is why they do not have any name. Radio waves are those that have a wavelength till about 1 mm. At the lower end they can have a wavelength of hundreds of meters. They are useful to us, especially for communication purposes because they have good penetrating capabilities, and can also carry data. Radio, wireless, mobile phones and even TV all use radio waves.

Microwaves are electromagnetic particles that overlap with radio waves in terms of wavelength. They form the upper end of the radio waves spectrum and are close to the 1 mm wavelength. They are very useful to us because at this wavelength the waves have a tendency to heat materials. Even radio waves have the same capacity, albeit to a lesser degree which is why mobile headsets tend to get hot after some time of use.

Infra-red waves are the ones that are very close to the visible spectrum on the lower end of the visible scale. They are waves that have a wavelength of between 1 mm and 1000 nm.

The visible spectrum actually makes up a tiny portion of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. The sun however emits the greatest portion of its radiation in this portion. The visible spectrum makes up waves that have a wavelength of between 8000 nm and 300 nm.

The Ultra-violet waves are the ones that have a smaller wavelength than the color violet. They are waves that have a wavelength between 300 nm and around 10 nm. They are a little dangerous to health because they have the capacity to change the DNA of living organisms. In fact if it were not for the fact that the atmosphere absorbs most of the UV radiation that the sun emits the Earth would be barren.

The particles with the smallest wavelength are called gamma radiation, and they do not have a limit on how small the wavelength can be. There is a theoretical limit but then once again it is a theoretical one.

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