Sorry..silly me..to be more specific..what are the ways inwhich radio waves affect matter?

Answer 1

They can generate electrical and magnet fields in metals, which is how antennae work.

Answer 2

Radio waves transmit radio electric energy.

This means that when they interact with matter they can transfer this energy to the matter. Most of the time it simply means heating the matter. But if you make a careful design you can convert this energy in electrical energy (this is the principle of any radio receiver)

Notes:
1/ sometimes (depending on the wave length and the nature of the material there is nearly no interaction (example: visible light goes through glass and most radio waves go through walls without being much affected)

2/ Some people (e.g. Tesla) thought of transmitting usable power with radio waves but this has till now never been used at big scale

Answer 3

Electromagnetic waves affect the charged particles in atoms,most notably the electrons, at low levels this has only a warming effect and might cause a sunburn, at higher levels it will actually dislodge electrons from thier host atoms creating ions and a diversity of chemical reactions changing the nature of the matter. This is called ionizing radiation and can be quite harmful. At very high levels radiation will strip the electrons from the atom and disrupt the nucleus reducing atomic matter to a plasma gas.
Think of electro magnetic waves as waves on water moving electrons as the wave would move a boat. Small waves would cause the boat to "bob" larger waves could carry it away.

Answer 4

It depends upon the frequency. Different frequency elecromatic waves have different effects on the matter.

Answer 5

They don't have much effect at all unless highly concentrated at high power - like a microwave oven.