Question

X-ray beam can be deflected by
A. magnetic field
B. electric field
C. both (A) and (B)
D. none of these

Answer 1

Hint: Recall what exactly these X-ray beams are. Then also try remembering all the characteristics related to it. Find out whether any of the given fields deflect the X-rays. Also, justify your answer with valid points. Remember that we could actually call X-rays photons and hence find the answer.

Complete step-by-step answer
We know that an x-ray is one of the electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic waves are waves of electromagnetic fields carrying with them electromagnetic radiant energy.
But X-rays are actually photons which have neither mass nor charge. Being charge-less and mass-less there is no possible chance for x-rays to get deflected. Therefore, we could see that X-ray beams are deflected by neither magnetic fields nor electric fields.
Hence, option D is the right answer.
Additional information:
X-rays are known to be high energy electromagnetic radiation. They are known to have a wavelength range of 10 pm to 10 nm, and a corresponding frequency range of 30petahertz to 30exahertz. They were discovered by German scientist Wilhelm Rontgen and hence they are also called Rontgen radiation. They carry with them enough energy so as to ionize atoms and even disrupt molecular bonds.
For the soft X-ray regime and lower hard X-ray energies, the photoabsorption or photoelectric absorption is known to be the dominant interaction mechanism and for the high energy X-rays, Compton scattering is the dominant interaction.

Note: Though they are known not to get deflected due to magnetic and electric fields they do interact with matter. These interactions are observed in three ways, through photoabsorption, Compton scattering, and Rayleigh scattering. However, the strength of these interactions depends on the energy of the X-rays and also the elemental composition of material but we could say that they are independent of the chemical properties.