X-Rays

→ Have photon energies above 10 keV.
→ Can be used in hospital use and engineering.
→ X-ray photographs – used for medical diagnosis.
→These X-rays are also used in radiotherapy.

Types of X-rays:

1. Soft X-rays

→ Longer wavelength X-ray.
→ Defined by having photon energies below 10 keV.
→ Have less energy than hard X-rays.
→Soft X-rays are used in radiography to take photos of bones and internal organs.
→ Do not cause much damage to tissues, unless they are repeated too often.

Other uses:

• Radiotherapy – a treatment for cancer.
  →They destroy molecules within specific cells, thus destroying tissue.

• Airport security scanners – used to examine baggage.

• Engineering – X-ray photographs are used to check for flaws in welded joints.

2. Hard X-rays

→ Short wavelength X-ray.
→ These penetrate flesh more readily than bone, which makes X-ray ‘shadow’ photographs possible.

Discovery

• Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen
→ Discovered X-rays in 1895.
→ Awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for this discovery.