what is X-ray & its practical applications ?

X rays was discovered by German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895 while experimenting with cathode rays. For this discovery he earned Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. X rays are a kind of super-powerful version of ordinary light: a higher-energy form of electromagnetic radiation that travel at the speed of light in straight lines. X rays can travel through things that ordinary light waves can't because they are much more energetic. Applications: 1. Medicine: X rays is used as a medical tool in both diagnosis and treatment in medicine. Since bones and teeth are very good at absorbing X rays and soft tissues like skin and muscle, allow the rays to pass straight through, and they show up broken bones, tumors, and lung conditions such as tuberculosis and emphysema. Dentists also use X rays extensively to see the affected parts of the mouth like teeth and gums. Highly energetic X rays, damage living tissue when they pass through it. Hence, X rays are used to sterilize medical equipment and kill tumors in the treatment of cancer. This is known as X-ray therapy (also called radiation therapy and radiotherapy). 2. Security: X ray scans that show up the organs lurking inside the body are useful for checking bags at airport check-ins to detect any kinds of explosives. 3. Industrial applications: X rays are also used to detect faults lurking inside industrial equipment like to track down things like cracks and fatigue in metal components that might otherwise go undetected, e.g turbine blades in airplane jet engines are tested in this way to make sure they will not harbour any problems that would cause them to fail suddenly during flight. 4. Scientific research: X rays is used to study the inner structure of materials like crystals. This is called X-ray diffraction or X-ray crystallography. read less

X-rays is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 0.01 to 10 nanometers and energies in the range 100 eV to 100 keV. X-ray photons carry enough energy to ionize atoms and disrupt molecular bonds. This makes it a type of ionizing radiation, and therefore harmful to living tissue. A very high radiation dose over a short amount of time causes radiation sickness, while lower doses can give an increased risk of radiation-induced cancer. In medical imaging this increased cancer risk is generally greatly outweighed by the benefits of the examination. The ionizing capability of X-rays can be utilized in cancer treatment to kill malignant cells using radiation therapy. It is also used for material characterization using X-ray spectroscopy. read less

. a photographic or digital image of the internal composition of something, especially a part of the body, produced by X-rays being passed through it and being absorbed to different degrees by different materials. "the fracture was clearly visible on the X-ray" it is used in the clinics for early diagnosis of fractures, effusions, organomegaly ..or any other abnormalities.. read less

Its a form of Electromagnetic radiation. Wavelength ranges from .01 to 10 nanometers frequency from 30petahertz to 30exahertz energy from 100 eV to 100keV. X rays with photon energy above 5-10keV are hard X rays, with lower energy soft X ray. X rays emitted by electrons. X rays application varies in a high range from detecting the decay of teeth to detecting events in distant galaxies. used as medical tool as diagnosis and treatment. For security purposes. Industrial application to detect faults in machines. read less