Ad
related to: are x rays high frequency
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Gamma rays, at the high-frequency end of the spectrum, have the highest photon energies and the shortest wavelengths—much smaller than an atomic nucleus. Gamma rays, X-rays, and extreme ultraviolet rays are called ionizing radiation because their high photon energy is able to ionize atoms, causing chemical reactions. Longer-wavelength ...
Natural color X-ray photogram of a wine scene. Note the edges of hollow cylinders as compared to the solid candle. William Coolidge explains medical imaging and X-rays.. An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays.
In contrast, high frequency ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays are ionizing – individual photons of such high frequency have enough energy to ionize molecules or break chemical bonds. Ionizing radiation can cause chemical reactions and damage living cells beyond simply heating, and can be a health hazard and dangerous.
X-rays normally have a lower energy than gamma rays, and an older convention was to define the boundary as a wavelength of 10 −11 m (or a photon energy of 100 keV). [14] That threshold was driven by historic limitations of older X-ray tubes and low awareness of isomeric transitions. Modern technologies and discoveries have shown an overlap ...
High-energy X-rays or HEX-rays are very hard X-rays, with typical energies of 80–1000 keV (1 MeV), about one order of magnitude higher than conventional X-rays used for X-ray crystallography (and well into gamma-ray energies over 120 keV).
Gamma rays, X-rays, and the higher energy range of ultraviolet light constitute the ionizing part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The word "ionize" refers to the breaking of one or more electrons away from an atom, an action that requires the relatively high energies that these electromagnetic waves supply.
Characteristic X-rays are produced when an element is bombarded with high-energy particles, which can be photons, electrons or ions (such as protons). When the incident particle strikes a bound electron (the target electron) in an atom, the target electron is ejected from the inner shell of the atom.
Near ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, microwave, radio waves, and low-frequency radio frequency (very low frequency, extremely low frequency) are all examples of non-ionizing radiation. By contrast, far ultraviolet light, X-rays, gamma-rays, and all particle radiation from radioactive decay are ionizing.