Summary
- X-rays are a form of ionizing electromagnetic radiation…
- with wavelengths in the approximate range of 10−9 m to 10−12 m (1 nm to 1 pm)
- with photon energies in the approximate range of 103 eV to 106 eV (1 keV to 1 MeV)
- X-rays are formed by…
- decelerating charges
- called bremsstrahlung (from the German term for "braking radiation")
- centripetally accelerating charges
- called synchrotron radiation (since they were first detected in ring-shaped particle accelerators called synchrotrons)
- outer shell electrons replacing displaced inner shell electrons
- called characteristic x-rays (since the wavelengths emitted are a characteristic of the element)
