Medical What does sunlight do that incandescent light can't do?

[Simfish]

What does "sunlight" do that incandescent light can't do?

Both of them emit light at roughly blackbody distributions, and their light distributions both seem centered in a way such that they both produce white light.

Light therapy produces a lot of excess light at the higher frequencies. But then it doesn't even remotely resemble sunlight at all.

 

[olbab]

I'm new here, forgive me if I'm not supposed to give obvious answers.

Both are essentially black bodys, but the Sun, due to its much higher temperature, emits a much wider spectrum, toward the UV bands. Thus, sunburn, skin cancer, vitamen D.

Ol' Bab

 

[DaveC426913]

Both of them emit light at roughly blackbody distributions, and their light distributions both seem centered in a way such that they both produce white light.

What? They're not even close.
Incandescent is way baised toward the low energy end of the spectrum - lots of of red, very little blue/violet.

 

[mp3car]

Just a note about vitamin D... you don't "get it" from the sun... your body makes vitamin D3 in your skin when it's exposed to UV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D

 

[olbab]

Quite so!
Meant it in the sense "given UV, these things follow"

Or might follow. Hmm. More likely? Sometimes? The confusion, the confusion...

Ol' Bab, who is too old for this.

 

[Xnn]

Go shopping for compact fluorescents; they come in different temperatures.