Principal and Applications of Radiological Physics

Running head: Path of the beam 1
Path of the beam
Student Name
Student Registration Number
Institution

Path of the beam 2
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1........................................................................................................................3
Overview..........................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2........................................................................................................................3
Nuclear and Atomic Physics............................................................................................3
Properties of X-Rays........................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 3........................................................................................................................6
Electrostatics....................................................................................................................6
CHAPTER 4........................................................................................................................8
Electricity and Magnetism...............................................................................................8
CHAPTER 6......................................................................................................................10
Parts of an X-Ray Tube.................................................................................................10
CHAPTER 7......................................................................................................................11
Interactions Between x-rays and matter........................................................................11
Reference...........................................................................................................................12

Path of the beam 3
CHAPTER 1
Overview
This is a summary of the things learnt in various chapters .Chapter 2 deals more about the
atom and its constituents and electromagnetic radiation which is introduced with a particular
emphasis on X-Ray position on the electromagnetic spectrum .In chapter 3 understanding of
electric charges, electrostatic laws ,conductors and insulators are brought up .Chapter 4
introduces the interesting topic of electricity and magnetism and tries to explain how they relate
to one another through induction in transformers and the various types of transformers. In
chapter 6, the theory of X-Ray production in a X-Ray tube is learnt with the roles of the various
parts explained in detail. Chapter 7 which is the last chapter opens on the interaction of radiation
with matter particularly the X-Radiation and how it affects radiographers who conduct general
diagnostics.
CHAPTER 2
Nuclear and Atomic Physics
An atom is defined as the smallest division into which matter can be divided. The atom has
three sub atomic particles inside them which include; protons, nucleus, and electrons. The proton
and neutrons are packed together at the centre nucleus and are surrounded by an electron cloud
that contains electrons held to the nucleus by electrostatic attraction. Each electron and proton
has an electrical charge (q) equivalent of 1.6 ×1 0−19 Coulomb.
An atom is usually neutral with regard to charges. It contains equal number of positive
charged protons and negative charged electrons, bringing the addition of their charges to zero.
The nucleus however contains neutrons that have no charge and positive charged protons which
are closely packed together within a small volume. Therefore, a powerful nuclear force must be

Path of the beam 4
present in the nucleus to counteract the electrostatic repulsion between protons and the energy
linked to this force is the binding energy Even more protons and neutrons means the bigger the
nucleus yet the distance between these sub atomic particles should be constant.. This implies that
the strong nuclear force will be repulsive at a very narrower range and at the same time attractive
over a much broader distance. A stable atom is an atom with sufficient binding energy to
permanently hold the nucleus together. In unstable atoms, the strong nuclear forces do not
produce sufficient binding energy to keep the nucleus permanently compact forming unstable
nuclei that are radioactive.
The electron configuration of the atom is a depiction of the distribution of electrons
spread between the orbital shells and sub shells. The principal quantum number denoted by (n)
dictates the size of a shell in which a specific electron occupies around the nucleus including its
energy level. That value of n is confined to positive integers and which use letter notations
frequently to characterize the electronic shell. When letters are used: K represents the value of
least shell n=1, which is then followed by L, M, N as the value of n increases respectively. The
electron configuration of an element is unique to its position on the periodic table and follows a
2n2 rule which states that the outermost shell of an atom cannot accommodate more than eight
electrons.
The energy level is defined by the period of the element and the number of electrons it
has. In the shell n=1, the electron resides in the lowest energy level and lying in a position very
close to the nucleus .Sequentially higher levels of energy are characterized by the increasing
number of shells...This means that the energy that is needed to extract the valence electron is
very low at shell n=1 .Thus the energy level of shell one is the lowest while that of the valence
shell is highest. More energy level means that the electrons are loosely bound to the nucleus.