HOW IS RADIOFREQUENCY ENERGY USED?

The most important use for RF energy is in providing telecommunications services.  Radio and television broadcasting, cellular telephones, personal communications services (PCS), pagers, cordless telephones, business radio, radio communications for police and fire departments, amateur radio, microwave point-to-point links and satellite communications are just a few of the many telecommunications applications of RF energy.  Microwave ovens are an example of a non-telecommunication use of RF energy.   Radiofrequency radiation, especially at microwave frequencies, can transfer energy to water molecules.  High levels of microwave energy will generate heat in water-rich materials such as most foods.   This efficient absorption of microwave energy via water molecules results in rapid heating throughout an object, thus allowing food to be cooked more quickly in a microwave oven than in a conventional oven.   Other important non-telecommunication uses of RF energy include radar and industrial heating and sealing.   Radar is a valuable tool used in many applications range from traffic speed enforcement to air traffic control and military surveillance.   Industrial heaters and sealers generate intense levels of RF radiation that rapidly heats the material being processed in the same way that a microwave oven cooks food.  These devices have many uses in industry, including molding plastic materials, gluing wood products, sealing items such as shoes and pocketbooks, and processing food products.   There are also a number of medical applications of RF energy, such as diathermy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).