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Glass blocks UV radiation

Q: Can you get sunburned through a car windshield? --Brad, Loma Linda, California

A: Only if you try hard. A car's windshield blocks about 85% of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Other car windows block only about half.

[Corel] Better off behind the windshield.

Heat waves pass through glass and get absorbed by our bodies. So, the sun's rays can heat us shining through a windshield.

Glass protects us, though, from the UV portion. It absorbs most of the UV like an exceptionally effective sunscreen. Good thing, too, because skin absorbs almost all the UV rays that reach it.

[from HyperPhysics by Rod Nave] We absorb UV the most, microwave the least.

(Answered July 12, 2002)

Further Surfing:

HyperPhysics by Rod Nave: How radiation & matter interact