Question

Write any 5 properties of X-rays.

Answer 1

Hint: X-rays belong to the electromagnetic radiation family. Hence, knowing about EM radiations will help in getting the answer. There are multiple real life usages of X-rays such as medicine and detectors etc. Knowledge of these will help in finding out the properties.

Complete step by step solution:
To write about the properties, we first need to know about X-rays itself. X-ray belongs to the highly energetic electromagnetic radiation. These X-ray radiations range from 10 picometers ($10\times {{10}^{-12}}m$) to 10 nanometers ($10\times {{10}^{-9}}m$). The corresponding frequencies range from 30 petahertz ($3\times {{10}^{15}}Hz$) to 30 exahertz ($3\times {{10}^{18}}Hz$). Based upon the corresponding energy range of 124 eV to 124 keV they are known as soft and hard X-rays. The soft X-rays are produced in the energy of eV’s while hard X-rays are produced in the energy range of keV’s.

Now let’s find out how are the X-rays generated.

X-rays can be generated by an X-ray tube which is essentially a vacuum tube consisting of a source which generates highly energetic electrons hitting a metal target. These highly energetic electrons hit the metal target generating X-rays in the process.

The main properties of X-rays are as follows:
a.) X-rays belong to a shorter wavelength range of the electromagnetic radiation, beyond the ultraviolet range.
b.) Production of X-rays is a high energy process. Hence, high voltage is used to generate X-rays.
c.) The X-rays have applications in multiple fields, such as finding bone defects in medicine and finding information about materials using the X-ray diffraction technique etc.
d.) The X-rays are unidirectional and hence travel in a single direction and do not carry any electrical charge with them. The X-rays are just energy waves, hence, they don’t carry any electrical charge with them.
e.) Since it is an electromagnetic radiation, hence it doesn’t need any medium to travel in. Therefore, X-rays can travel in vacuum as well.

Note: X-rays have a wavelength range which is shorter than UV radiation. You can also remember these terms of frequency as X-rays have higher frequencies than UV frequency ranges.
The high frequency leads to high energy which needs high voltage.
Remember properties in this manner can help in retaining the information longer.