X Rays Essay

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X-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation and are apart of the electromagnetic spectrum; x-rays consist of wavelengths which are shorter than the wavelengths of visible light. X-rays are mainly known of in the medical industry as they provide a convenient and painless procedure which produces images from the inside of the human body. X-rays, which are an electromagnetic wave of high energy and very short wavelength are able to produce images from inside the body as the x-rays pass through materials that are opaque to light.
The wavelength of x-rays ranges from 10-11 to 10-8 (0.001 to 10nm) and has a frequency of 3x1016 to 3x1019Hz.

X-rays, which are forms of ionizing electromagnetic radiation, have a high frequency and a short wavelength.
X-rays are produced when the electrons are accelerating with a high voltage allowing them to collide with a metal. When the electrons are then suddenly decelerated collisions occur with the metal, which produces x-rays. If the electrons have a sufficient amount of energy they are able to knock an electron out of the inner shell of the target metal atoms, this then causes electrons from higher states to fill that vacancy of the pushed out shell thus, emitting rays.
The process in which this procedure occurs is produced in an electrode machine, which is an electrode pair (anode and cathode) which sits inside a glass vacuum. The cathode is the filament that is heated in which the machine passes the current through the filament heating it up. The flat disc that is made up of tungsten is called the anode, this flat disc of tungsten draws the electrons across the tube. The anode and cathode consist of an extremely high voltage so that the electrons then fly through the tube at a great force. Whe...

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... DNA leading to mutation and radiation exposure. The people that have the highest risks when having x-rays are pregnant women, if women have to many x-rays it could possibly cause defects on the baby. However, most of these ailments only occur after copious amounts of x-rays, one or two isn’t going to hurt.
Even though there are many disadvantages to undergoing an x-ray, there are many advantages that outweigh these risks. The advantages include; detecting illnesses like tumors and cancers, detecting broken or fractured limbs and locating foreign objects in the body. Providing images from inside the body using x-rays is also painless as well as non-invasive. When saying that x-rays are convenient they truly are, a patient can go in on the day not knowing what is wrong, have an x-ray, wait half an hour and then get the results on the spot with everything explained.

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