1. ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION

2. NOVEMBER 8, 1895 ROENTGEN DISCOVERED X-RAYS IN HIS LAB IN WURZBURG GERMANY

3. ROENTGEN EXPERIMENTED WITH CATHODE RAYS USING THE CROOKE’S TUBE

4. PHOTONS ARE ENERGY DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH THE SPACE WITH THE SPEED OF LIGHT (c) in VACUUM

5. PHOTONS HAVE NO MASS AND NO CHARGE
PHOTONS HAVE NO MASS AND NO CHARGE. THEY HAVE MAGNETIC AND ELECTRIC FIELDS CHANGING IN SINUSOIDAL FASHION

6. SPEED OF LIGHT = 3 x 10 8 m/s 3 x 10 5 km/s 300,000 km/s
186,400 miles/s

7. GAMMA vs X-RAYS

8. X-RAY PRODUCTION

9. ELECTRON CLOUD IN THE TARGET

10. GAMMA EMISSION

12. THREE WAVE PARAMETERS ARE NEEDED TO DESCRIBE ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION: VELOCITY, WAVELENGTH, AND FREQUENCY

13. Frequency and Wavelength
The sine wave model of electromagnetic energy describes variations in the electric and magnetic fields as the photon travels with velocity c. The important properties of this model are frequency, represented by f, and wavelength, represented by the Greek letter lambda (λ).

14. ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE EQUATION
c=f x Λ

15. ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

16. Long wavelength Low frequency Low energy
Short wavelength High frequency High energy

17. THE ENERGY OF PHOTON IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO ITS FREQUENCY

18. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN X-RAYS AND GAMMA RAYS IS THEIR ORIGIN

19. VISIBLE LIGHT IS IDENTIFIED BY:
WAVELENGTH

20. RF IS IDENTIFIED BY:
FREQUENCY

21. X-RAYS ARE IDENTIFIED BY:
ENERGY

22. X-RAYS BEHAVE AS THEY ARE PARTICLES

23. PROPERTIES OF X-RAYS HIGHLY PENETRATING, INVISIBLE RAYS
ELECTRICALLY NEUTRAL
POLYENERGETIC
LIBERATE MINUTE AMOUNTS OF HEAT ON PASSING THROUGH MATTER
TRAVEL ORDINARILY IN STRAIGHT LINES
TRAVEL WITH THE SPEED OF LIGHT IN VACUUM
IONIZE GASES INDIRECTLY
CAUSE FLUORESCENSE OF CERTAIN CRYSTALS
CANNOT BE FOCUSED BY LENS
AFFECT PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM
PRODUCE CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CHANGES
PRODUCE SECONDARY AND SCATTER RADIATION

24. RADIATION ATTENUATION IS THE REDUCTION IN INTENSITY RESULTING FROM SCATTERING AND ABSORPTION

25. STRUCTURES THAT ABSORB X-RAYS ARE CALLED
RADIOPAQUE ????

26. STRUCTURES THAT ATTENUATE X-RAYS ARE CALLED
RADIOLUCENT ??

27.                 
                                            
Where: I1 =
Intensity 1 at D1 I2
Intensity 2 at D2 D1
Distance 1 from source D2
Distance 2 from source
In physics, an inverse-square law is any physical law stating that a specified physical quantity or strength is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that physical quantity.

28. The intensity of ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION from a point source (energy per unit of area perpendicular to the source) is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source; so an object (of the same size) twice as far away, receives only one-quarter the energy (in the same time period).

29. The picture above demonstrates the typical x-ray tube used to produce a point source of x-rays. Then as radiation exits the tube it diverges to cover an increasingly larger area as the distance from the source increases. Notice that area "A" is smaller and the radiation is more concentrated than in an equal area "A1" which is some distance from "A." Each square A1 is the same size as "A" but only 1/4 the number of photons occupies it because of the divergence of the radiation with increasing distance.

32. In spite of the advances in radiation protection, such as collimators, cones, and positive beam limiting devices, distance is still the best tool for radiation protection and remains the most common method of protecting personnel, visitors, and adjacent patients from ionizing radiation use. But few persons in the health care environment understand why distance effectively protects them and therefore continuously question, “At what distance am I considered safe? The answer lies in understanding the relationship of ones distance from a source to exposure intensity. The type(s) of radiation one is exposed to as well as its energy content are also factors that affect personal dose. A safe distance can be accurately estimated from the vector of radiation exposure and its initial intensity using the inverse square law. The radiographer should note that this law applies only to a point source of radiation such as the primary beam. Additionally, the inverse square law applies only to electromagnetic radiation (x-rays and gamma rays), and does not apply to particulate ionizing radiation, or scatter radiation which is the major type of occupational radiation exposure personnel should encounter.

34. Animations

35. Virtual Lab Link
Demonstrates the inverse square law of light with a lightbulb and detector. The lightbulb's intensity and the detector's distance can be adjusted to see how they affect the reading. There are two bulbs and detectors to allow side-by-side comparisons