X-ray

Table of Contents

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles of the human airway tree

Figure 6: Incident rays (1 and 2) at angle θ on the planes of atoms in a crystal. Rays reinforce if their difference in path length (AB + BC) is an integer times the wavelength of the X ray.

For Students

X-ray summary

Read Next

Marie Curie, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1903) and Chemistry (1911).

Radium Girls: The Women Who Fought for Their Lives in a Killer Workplace

The first contingent of the Women's Overseas Hospitals, supported by the National American Woman Suffrage Association. (World War I)

Women in World War I: A Photo Gallery

Discover

Watergate scandal. Richard M. Nixon. President Nixon gives a press conference and talks to the press, March 12, 1971.

9 American Political Scandals

Coriander leaves, fresh green cilantro on wooden background, herbs

Why Does Cilantro Taste Like Soap to Some People?

Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and autodidact.

6 Interesting Facts about Srinivasa Ramanujan

What's the Difference Between a Solstice and an Equinox?

9 Mind-Altering Plants

Orange basketball on black background and with low key lighting. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

The 10 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time

Fish. Lionfish. Lion-fish. Turkey fish. Fire-fish. Red lionfish. Pterois volitans. Venomous fin spines. Coral reefs. Underwater. Ocean. Red lionfish swims by seaweed.

10 of the World’s Most Dangerous Fish

X-ray

radiation beam

Also known as: Röntgen radiation, X-radiation

Written by Glenn Stark

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Nov 28, 2024 • Article History

Key People:: Marie Curie; Walter Bradford Cannon; Hermann Joseph Muller; Arthur Holly Compton; Norman Robert Campbell

Related Topics:: cosmic X-ray background; bremsstrahlung; soft X ray; hard X ray; secondary X ray

On the Web:: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - A general theory of interference fringes in x-ray phase grating imaging (Nov. 28, 2024)

See all related content

X-ray, electromagnetic radiation of extremely short wavelength and high frequency, with wavelengths ranging from about 10⁻⁸ to 10⁻¹² metre and corresponding frequencies from about 10¹⁶ to 10²⁰ hertz (Hz). X-rays are commonly produced by accelerating (or decelerating) charged particles; examples include a beam of electrons striking a metal plate in an X-ray tube and a circulating beam of electrons in a synchrotron particle accelerator or storage ring. In addition, highly excited atoms can emit X-rays with discrete wavelengths characteristic of the energy level spacings in the atoms. The X-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum falls far outside the range of ...(100 of 3081 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.