röntgensugár

Röntgen sugár, also known as X-rays, are a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than ultraviolet light and longer than gamma rays. They were discovered by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1895, who was experimenting with cathode ray tubes. Röntgen observed that a fluorescent screen in his laboratory began to glow when the tube was energized, even though it was covered. He deduced that an invisible, penetrating radiation was being emitted from the tube, which he named X-rays due to their unknown nature.

X-rays are produced when charged particles, typically electrons, are accelerated and then suddenly decelerated. This can happen in an X-ray tube, where a beam of electrons is fired at a metal target. The interaction of the electrons with the target atoms generates X-rays. These rays are invisible to the human eye but can pass through many materials that are opaque to visible light, such as soft tissues and bones.

The penetrating power of X-rays makes them invaluable in various fields, most notably in medicine for diagnostic imaging. By passing X-rays through a patient's body and capturing the radiation that emerges on a detector, a two-dimensional image of internal structures can be created. Dense materials like bone absorb more X-rays, appearing white on the image, while softer tissues absorb less, appearing in shades of gray. This allows for the detection of fractures, tumors, and other abnormalities. X-rays are also used in industrial applications for non-destructive testing and in scientific research for analyzing the atomic structure of materials. Exposure to high doses of X-rays can be harmful to living tissues, so their use is carefully regulated and minimized to essential applications.