X-Rays 3

Continuous &
Characteristic
X-Rays
Jayant Nagda
JEE Coach & Motivational Speaker

B.Tech, IIT Bombay

IIT-JEE AIR - 161
12+ Years of Teaching Experience
Trained Million+ students
Best Content Award
livedaily.me/jee
Telegram Channel
 Unacademy
Subscription

LIVE Class Environment Performance Analysis

LIVE Polls & Leaderboard Weekly Test Series
LIVE Doubt Solving DPPs & Quizzes
LIVE Interaction
 Top Results

Bratin Mondal Amaiya Singhal

100 %ile 100 %ile

 India’s BEST Educators Unacademy Subscription

If you want to be the BEST

“Learn” from the BEST
 11th / 9, 10

12th / Drop

JAYANTLIVE
X - Rays
High energy e-s when are made to strike a metal target,
electromagnetic radiation called X-Rays are produced.

Large part of this radiation has wavelength

of order 0.1 nm or 1 Å known as X-rays.
X - Rays
● They are electromagnetic waves

● have speed c = 3 × 108 m/s in vacuum

● wavelength between 0.1 Å to 100 Å

● invisible to eye

● photons of energy around 1000 times more than the

visible light.
X - Rays Soft X-ray Hard X-ray

Wavelength 10 Å to 100 Å 0.1 Å - 10 Å

Penetrating power Less More

Use Radio-photography Radio-therapy

As compared to the photons comprising red light, the
photons comprising X-rays have higher–
A. wavelength B. speed

C. mass D. energy
X - Rays Production

Discovered by W. Roentgen (German) in 1895

For X–Ray production three things are required:

(i) Source of electron

(iii) Target on which these

high speed electron strike

(ii) Means of accelerating these electron to high speed

Coolidge Tube or X - ray tube
e-s are accelerated through Potential Difference
between cathode & anode metal target is hit with e-

Filament when heated emits e-

s (thermionic emission)
Glass Chamber
Anode
Cathode e-
target Water
T

filament F

window

X - Rays
Coolidge Tube Most of the energy of the electrons (above 98%)
is converted into heat. Only 1% or 2% kinetic energy
of electron beam is used to produce X-Ray.

Target Metal:
(a) High melting point to withstand high temperature produced.
(b) High thermal conductivity to remove the heat produced
(c) Must have high atomic number to produce hard X–rays.
(d) Tantalum, Platinum, Molybdenum and Tungsten serve as
target materials
Generation of X-rays is -

A. phenomenon of conversion of K.E. into radiant energy

B. principle of conservation of momentum

C. phenomenon of conservation of mass into energy

D. principle of conservation of electric charge

Consider a photon of continuous X-ray coming from a
coolidge tube. Its energy comes from–

A. K.E. of striking electron

B. K.E. of free electron of the target

C. K.E. of the ions of the target

D. an atomic transition in the target

Ans: A
This e- when enters target, loses this K.E. during collisions,
eventually coming to rest. While making several of these
collisions with atoms of target :-

1. A part of this K.E. loss goes into photon of EM radiation

& remaining part increases K.E. of colliding target particle
which goes into heat.
Bremsstrahlung Radiation

is the radiation given off by a charged particle (most often an electron)

due to its acceleration caused by an electric field of another charged
particle (most often a proton or an atomic nucleus).
The KE loss hence the energy of Photon
appearing in this case varies with collision hence
this value can be anything between 0 to eV

Maximum energy of such a photon is

Cutoff wavelength depends on V

not on target or filament material.
Continuous X - Rays
Intensity
wavelengths where intensity varies gradually
are called Continuous X-rays.

λmin Wavelength

Cutoff wavelength or Threshold wavelength

minimum wavelength below which no X - Ray is emitted.

V : p.d. b/w target and filament

hc
K = eV =
λmin K : if e-s are ejected at filament
with negligible speed, K.E. of e-s
when it hits target
A potential difference of 20 kV is applied across an X-ray
tube. The minimum wavelength of X-rays generated is–

A. 0.26 Å B. 0.62 Å

C. 0.16 Å D. 0.50 Å
If the potential difference applied to the tube is doubled
and the separation between the filament and the target is
also doubled, the cutoff wavelength -

A. will remain unchanged

B. will be doubled
C. will be halved
D. will become four times the original.
Continuous X - Rays also known as white X–ray

hc
K = eV = = h𝜈max
λmin

[here V is applied potential]

& also h𝜈max = eV

Minimum wavelength or maximum frequency

of X-Rays depends only on applied potential and
does not depend on atomic number.
Which of the following statements are correct
for an X-ray tube-

A. on increasing potential difference between filament

and target, photon flux of X-Rays increases
B. on increasing potential difference between filament
and target, frequency of X-Ray increases
C. on increasing filament current, cut off wavelength
increases
D. on increasing filament current, intensity of X-Rays
decreases.
To produce hard X-rays in coolidge tube we should increase -
A. current in filament (heating)
B. potential difference across the filament (heating)
C. potential difference across cathode and anticathode
D. none of these

Ans: C
2. e- knocks out an inner e- of target atom
with which it collides.

n = 1 K shell 2 electrons

n = 2 L shell 8 electrons

n = 3 M shell 18 electrons

If knocked e- is from K - shell, it creates a gap

to be filled by e- from upper shell,

n = 1 can accommodate only two e-

by Pauli’s exclusion principle.
X-rays emitted due to electronic transition from a higher energy
state to a vacancy created in the K-shell are called K - X-rays.

L shell (n=2) ➝ K shell (n=1) K∝

M shell (n=3)➝ K shell (n=1) Kβ

Characteristic X-Rays

K∝
N M∝
M
L∝ Lβ
Kβ
L
K𝞬
K∝ Kβ K𝞬
K L∝

K∝ , Kβ etc depend on material ?

Is λ∝ < λβ OR λ∝ > λβ ??
Characteristic X-Rays

Intensity During these transitions

K∝
Kβ

Photon is emitted, of X-ray

λmin Wavelength

X-rays where intensity is large are called

Characteristic X-rays K∝ and Kβ
Transition Wavelength Energy Energy difference Wavelength

L→K λK𝛂 h𝜈K𝛂 -(EK - EL)

(2 → 1) = h𝜈K𝛂

M→K λK𝛃 h𝜈K𝛃 -(EK - EM)

(3 → 1) = h𝜈K𝛃

M→L λL𝛂 h𝜈L𝛂 -(EL - EM)

(3 → 2) h𝜈L𝛂
The Kα X-ray emission line of tungsten occurs at λ =
0.021 nm. What is the energy difference between K and L
levels in this atom?
A. 69 keV B. 5.9 keV

C. 59 keV D. 49 keV
Characteristic X-Rays

Intensity K∝
Kβ

depends on
current in
filament

λmin λ1 λ2

depends on V
depends on
target material
If λ1 and λ2 are the wavelengths of characteristic X-rays
and gamma rays respectively, then the relation between
them is -
A. λ1 = 1/λ2 B. λ1 = λ2

C. λ1 > λ2 D. λ1 < λ2

Ans: C
White X-rays are called ‘white’ because -

A. they are produced most abundantly in X-rays tubes

B. they are electromagnetic waves and hence have a
nature similar to white light
C. they can be converted to visible light using coated
screens, and they affect photographic plates, just like
light
D. they have a continuous range of wavelengths

Ans: D
Following diagram shows relation between emitted X-rays
intensity and wavelength obtained X-ray tube its sharp
peaks A and B shows -

A. band spectrum
B. continuous spectrum
C. characteristics radiations
D. white radiations

Ans: C
 #JEELiveDaily Schedule

11th

Namo Sir | Physics Ashwani Sir | Chemistry Sameer Sir | Maths

6:00 - 7:30 PM 7:30 - 9:00 PM 9:00 - 10:30 PM

12th

Jayant Sir | Physics Anupam Sir | Chemistry Purnima Ma’am | Maths

1:30 - 3:00 PM 3:00 - 4:30 PM 4:30 - 6:00 PM
Telegram Channel
 Unacademy
Subscription

LIVE Class Environment Performance Analysis

LIVE Polls & Leaderboard Weekly Test Series
LIVE Doubt Solving DPPs & Quizzes
LIVE Interaction
 Top Results

Bratin Mondal Amaiya Singhal

100 %ile 100 %ile

 India’s BEST Educators Unacademy Subscription

If you want to be the BEST

“Learn” from the BEST
Step 1 Step 2

INSTALL
 11th / 9, 10

12th / Drop

JAYANTLIVE
 11th / 9, 10

12th / Drop

JAYANTLIVE
JAYANTLIVE
NAMOLIVE
हज़ारो सुकून छोड़ने
पड़ते हैं एक जुनून के
लिए !