WHAT IS RADIO FREQUENCY ENERGY?
Radio frequency energy, or radio frequency radiation, describes just one category of electromagnetic energy that makes up the electromagnetic spectrum (see figure). The range of radio frequencies in the spectrum – 3000 Hz through 300 billion Hz – has been used to transmit information in various ways. Man-made radio frequency waves have been in the environment as long as we have had radios – almost 100 years. Television, whose signals are also transmitted by radio frequency energy, has been with us for nearly 50 years. The radio frequency range, including microwaves, has many other uses in communication including police, fire, amateur, and Citizens’ band radio, marine radios, AM and FM radio, UHF television, and traffic and weather radars. More recently, different radio frequencies have been used for telephones, paging and other personal communication systems. WHY IS IT CALLED RADIO FREQUENCY RADIATION? The term radiation simply means that something can spread out from its source, as he
