How+X-Rays+Work

Close, F. (2001, May 15). //Nobel Prize.Org//. Retrieved August 24, 2010, from Noble Web AB: http://nobelprize.org/educational/physics/x-rays/  -"Wilhelm received the first noble piece prize for physics "

- "six weeks after he made his discovery he invited his wife to his lab to take a shadow graph (x-ray) of his wives hand this is one of the most famous photographic images and propelled Wilhelm in two weeks to an international fame"

- "X-rays are produced when electrons strike a metal target. The electrons are liberated from the heated filament and accelerated by a high voltage towards the metal target. The x-rays are produced when the electrons collide with the atoms and nuclei of the metal target."

- "In an X-ray tube the electrons emitted from the cathode are accelerated towards the metal target anode by an accelerating voltage of typically 50 kV." -"The high energy electrons interact with the atoms in the metal target." -" Sometimes the electron comes very close to a nucleus in the target and is deviated by the electromagnetic interaction. In this process, which is called bremsstrahlung (braking radiation), the electron looses much energy and a photon (X-ray) is emitted." -"The energy of the emitted photon can take any value up to a maximum corresponding to the energy of the incident electron." -"The high energy electron can also cause an electron close to the nucleus in a metal atom to be knocked out from its place."

-"This vacancy is filled by an electron further out from the nucleus."

-"The well defined difference in binding energy, characteristic of the material, is emitted as a monoenergetic photon."

-"When detected this X-ray photon gives rise to a characteristic X-ray line in the energy spectrum//.// C. Barkla observed these lines in 1908-09 and was given the 1917 Nobel Prize for this discovery."

-"He also made the first experiments suggesting that the X-rays are electromagnetic waves."

- "Because of the many varied properties of X-rays, they have been used in various applications in science and industry. X-rays are used a lot in medicine to the great benefit of mankind." -"Max von Laue had the brilliant idea that if the X-rays are electromagnetic waves with a wavelength shorter than or of the same order as the separations between the ordered atoms in a crystal, then the scattering of X-rays against atoms could reveal some of the unknown properties of the X-rays."

-"This is due to the interference effects that could be observed when an X-ray beam hits layers of atoms in a crystal."

-"This effect is very similar to the interference of a ray of light hitting a gitter of densely packed scratches."