Can you get a tan through glass like when you are in the car or do you just burn?

Answer 1

Short answer:NO

If by burning you mean sunburn where your skin is damaged by the effect of UV wavelength light in the suns rays then you usually cannot burn through glass. Most glasses are opaque to the wavelength of light that is responsible for sunburn. You can of course get warm though glass and it could burn you like an ant in a magnifying glass but this would be very unlikly unless your car windows are convex!

The UV wavelength range is from 0.1 nm to about 400 nm. Sunburn is caused by UV below 180 nm and also UV closer to the visible light spectrum, around 340-400 nm. You may have seen sunlotion with the terms UVA, UVB etc, these refer to the differing wavelengths of UV that cause sunburn. The most dangerous are the shortest wavelengths as they cause the most harm to your skin cells. However glass is capable of letting through some of the wavelengths that will allow your skin to TAN (UVB), a similar thing occurs when you are in the shade but still tan, as there is still some visible light you can still tan.

There are glasses that will allow lower wavelength UV light through, and other transparent materials can also allow low length UV to pass through, such as quartz. Your average household or car windscreen will not however let light much below the 370nm range so no sunburn!

Answer 2

To summarize briefly: some ultraviolet rays can pass through car window glass, although most of the burning (as opposed to tanning) rays can't.

Ultraviolet light, which causes both sunburn and tanning, ranges in wavelength from 4,000 angstrom units (A) down to about 100 A. (Light with wavelength greater than 4,000 A lies in the visible spectrum.) The most potent rays for burning and tanning lie in the 2,900-3,050-A range, with radiation of 2,967 A supposedly being most effective of all.

Ordinary window glass, however, is pretty much opaque to wavelengths below 3,000 A. From this we deduce that the intervention of a window will significantly reduce but not halt the burning/tanning process.

In addition, UV rays above 3,200 A will cause tanning (but usually not burning) if administered in sufficiently massive doses, such as you get when you're driving. So to make it simple; yes you can tan after long exposure, but you probably won't burn.

Edit:
Gee, kangarolf, suddenly your answer changed, got longer and more detailed.

Answer 3

Yes. In fact, in 2002 I had an internship that I had to drive 45 minutes to. My right arm got tanned because when I would leave in the morning the sun would be on one side of the car and then the other side by the afternoon (when I went home).

Answer 4

No I don't think so as the rays that make tans happen can't travel through glass.

Answer 5

you may not tan by using glass. whilst the incoming short wave (extremely Violet) radiation from the sunlight hits the glass it quite is then converted to infra pink warmth potential and at this wave length your pores and skin can not tan. Your pores and skin will in simple terms get heat because it absorbs this longer wave radiation.

Answer 6

you can neither burn nor get a tan, glass blocks uv light etc.. thats why van drivers etc only get burned on one arm from resting it on the door with the window down.

Answer 7

Yes, you can, You can even get a mild tan in the shade too. Thats the power of the sun.

Answer 8

No you can't get sunburnt through a car window unless you have the window down...
UV rays don't penetrate glass

Answer 9

I believe you can. I used to always burn on my right arm when driving in the summer. (this was in South Africa and it was a right hand drive car)

Answer 10

yes you can tan in a car