X-rays are like ordinary rays of light, except for one thing, they have a shorter wavelength. Because of this, a beam of this length has more energy and will be more penetrating than a simple beam of light, even through solid substances such as wood, metal and concrete.An X-ray machine has a high voltage current flowing through X-ray tubes. Inside each tube is an airtight glass container. Inside it are two electrodes, or terminals, one negative and one positive. The negative is called a cathode. It is a tungsten coil that is heated by an electric current causing it to release electrons, or charged particles.
These electrons travel from the cathode to the anode, or positive, at very high speeds, from 96,000 to 282,000 kilometers per second. The anode, also called the target, is usually a tungsten block.
The anode stops the fast electrons. Some of the energy of the electrons is transformed into heat and the rest into X radiation. This X radiation, or X-rays, escapes through a window of the tube and goes to the part of the body that is going to be x-rayed.
Since these X-rays pass through the body, they cast shadows on a piece of photographic film, much like the film used in an ordinary camera.
In the hands of qualified technicians, X-rays can help save lives by killing cancer cells, helping doctors spot broken bones and diseased organs in a person's body, and even sterilizing medical supplies that cannot be boiled.
X-rays are also used in commerce and industry to locate product defects and to examine luggage at airports. But X-rays can also cause harm to humans by destroying healthy tissue, causing cancer and skin burns, and even modifying genes that pass traits from one generation to the next.
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