• Question: why does the sun burn some peoples skin?

    Asked by evalamertonvalle to Natalie on 15 Mar 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Natalie Stanford

      Natalie Stanford answered on 15 Mar 2010:

      Sunlight contains something called ultraviolet light, this a type of light that we can’t see. There are 3 types of ultraviolet light in the sunlight UVA, UVB and UVC. UVB is the light that causes us to burn. In order to protect us against the UVB light our skin produces something called Melanin. Melanin is a dark coloured pigment. The more melanin you have in your skin the darker its colour will be. So people with dark skin have a lot of melanin and don’t get sunburnt very easily. People with lighter coloured skin have less melanin and so they are less protected from the sun and more likely to burn.

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