Ask people on the street “What are X-rays?” and you’ll likely get a variety of replies. About medical and dental X-rays. Stories about Superman’s X-ray vision. (Why does lead block X-rays?) Invisible particles that allow us to see through stuff. Technical explanations about electromagnetic radiation.

So, street surveys typically reveal levels of understanding, which I’ll discuss later. But first, let’s ease into this topic with some examples and visualizations.

For most of us, X-rays are not part of an everyday experience. (Other than man-made sources, are there any sources of X-rays that we need to care about?) But there’s a general characteristic of X-rays that connects with our everyday world: light.

We see things when there is enough light and nothing interferes with our view. There are small things which we cannot see right in front of our eyes. They are large things that are far away which we cannot see at all. Standard microscopes and telescopes help us see more.

The light by which we see is composed of a spectrum (rainbow) of colors of light, and that visible spectrum is part of a vaster range of types of light beyond our sight. Some animals can see what we cannot, especially at night, without night-vision goggles or other imaging devices.

Light is electromagnetic radiation. Visible light is a narrow band in the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. And there are special names for particular bands (or ranges) of that spectrum. And the properties of light vary across that spectrum. In particular, the energy of light varies.

X-rays are one of those bands outside the visible one. Radios operate in that part of the EM spectrum called radio waves. Night scopes operate in that part of the spectrum called infrared radiation. Is there a difference between wave or radiation and a ray? (Same question for gamma rays.) Well, historical artifacts. Convention.

Here’s a link (below) to a video overview of X-rays: YouTube > Clover Learning > “Understanding the X-Ray Beam and Photon Wavelengths” (Dec 27, 2019) [1] >

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5HfoK1H2YE&feature=youtu.be

Once we break out of the limits of imaging only with visible light, we can learn some amazing things, refine our view of the universe. A fuller visualization, as profiled in this SciTechDaily article “Astronomers Build Incredible 3D Visualization of Exploded Star Using NASA’s Great Observatories [Video]” by Space Telescope Science Institute (January 5, 2020).

This video demonstrates the power of multiwavelength astronomy. It helps audiences understand how and why astronomers use multiple regions of the electromagnetic spectrum to explore and learn about our universe.

SciTech Daily channel (January 5, 2020) >

Levels of understanding

So, what really inspired this post was the “5 Levels” series of videos with titles like “Watch [expert scientist] explain [concept] in 5 levels of difficulty (increasing complexity).” Here’re some examples:

• Wired > “Astrophysicist Explains One Concept in 5 Levels of Difficulty” (released on 12-20-2019) [includes transcript].

Astrophysicist Janna Levin, PhD, is asked to explain the concept of gravity to 5 different people; a child, a teen, a college student, a grad student, and an expert. Levin is the Claire Tow Professor of Physics & Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University and author of “Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space.” She is also the Chair and Director of Sciences at Pioneer Works, where this video was filmed. To learn more, visit https://pioneerworks.org/

• Wired > “Physicist Explains One Concept in 5 Levels of Difficulty” (released on 10-16-2019) [includes transcript].

Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll, PhD, is challenged to explain the concept of dimensions to 5 different people; a child, a teen, a college student, a grad student, and an expert.

Related posts

• Celebrating X-Ray Astronomy — Chandra

Notes

[1] Here’s an excerpt from the description of Clover Learning’s “Understanding the X-Ray Beam and Photon Wavelengths” video.

Visit www.radtechbootcamp.com today to view the entire X-Ray Beam and Photon video series and more!

Radiographic images are created by exposing the patient to an x-ray beam. The x-ray beam is composed of millions of individual x-rays.

So what is an x-ray?

• An x-ray is a tiny package of energy called a photon.
• X-ray photons have a lot of energy, but … they have no mass, no charge, and they travel at the speed of light, and in a straight line.

X-rays are actually similar to light in some ways because both visible light and x-rays are part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The electromagnetic spectrum is the entire range of photon energies. This includes some familiar terms:

• Radio waves
• Microwaves
• Visible light
• Ultraviolet light
• X-rays
• Gamma rays

These terms simply refer to different radiation categories in the electromagnetic spectrum. They are all photons … the only difference is the energy.

The energy of a photon, including x-ray photons, is determined by the wavelength and frequency. The velocity (speed) does not change.

• Wavelength is the measurement from one peak to the next. When the peaks are closer together, the wavelength decreases and the x-ray photon has more energy.

• When wavelength decreases, something else happens … the frequency increases. This is the number of wave cycles per second, measured in Hertz (Hz).

Here’s the thing about an x-ray beam … It’s not made of up just one energy.

• The x-ray beam is polyenergetic.
• There are millions of photons in the beam and they have a wide range of energies.

Finally … When x-rays are created in the x-ray tube, they are created isotropically.

• Isotropic means the x-rays diverge equally in all directions.
• This is why the x-ray tube assembly requires a protective lead housing … to absorb all of the extra x-ray photons that we don’t need.