Chapter 8 X-Ray Production

Chapter 8 PowerPoint Slides

Protons and Neutrons are located

in the nucleus

Electrons are located

orbiting around the nucleus

The nucleus of an atom is _______ smaller than the overall size of the atom

100,000

Target interactions =

radiation made at Anode (target)

The two types of target interactions

Bremsstrahlung & Characteristic

Most common radiation made

Brems

the 3 ways projectile electrons interact with the target

heat

creating brem x-ray

creating characteristic x-rays

Bremsstrahlung is the german word for

braking / stopping / slowing

Nucleus has a strong _____ that attracts the projectile electrons

postive charge

What happens when electrons in a brems interaction near the nucleus?

start to slow down or “brake” and then change direction

What shape does the projectile electron resemble in a brems interaction?

boomerang

The closer the projectile electron gets to a nucleus

the more energy created for photon (x-ray)

Below ___ all radiation produced will be brems

69 keV

Target interactions take place in

atoms inside the x-ray tube

projectile electrons can very in keV but never exceed

the set kvP

What is the typical kvP range for taking x-rays?

40 - 150

maximum strength brems x-ray happen when the projectile electron loses all of its

kinetic energy

Brems have what type of emission?

continuous

characteristic spectrum =

discrete spectrum (small energy spectrum)

What level of the energy spectrum are a majority of photons created?

1/3 of max set kvP

keV describes

electron ernergy

kvP describes

max energy set for x-ray tube

Only electron shell strong enough to create x-rays

K shell

in characteristic interactions, what is responsible for x-ray production?

cascading (the transfer of an electron from the L shell to the K shell)

How is the max keV of a photon calculated in characteristic interactions?

subtracting L shell energy from the K shell energy

Is the energy level needed to knock out an electron the K shell universal?

No, it’s dependent on the target element

at 100 kvP

80% are Brems

Characteristic x-rays form a discrete emission spectrum, discrete emission spectrums have

specific values

Brems x-rays exist

across the span of the entire energy spectrum (heterogenous)