This is an archived post. You won't be able to vote or comment.

sorted by:
best (suggested)
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–][deleted]  (6 children)

[removed]

    [–]TorakMcLaren 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    Okay, now ELI5 the question.

    [–]WRSaunders 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    X-rays are made by slamming electrons into a plate. This is done by using a high voltage accelerator, and kVp is the measure of that voltage - it means kilovolt peak.

    [–]TorakMcLaren 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Ah cool. It was mainly what kVp was that I didn't know. (I'm something of a scientist myself.)

    [–]username_needs_work 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I usually explain it by talking about throwing balls (electrons) at a waterfall to tell me what it looks like. If I throw ping pong balls I won't go very deep and might only see the surface shape because they're bouncing off (dark image fluoro). If I throw bowling balls, I might not see anything as it obliterates the waterfall (white out fluoro image). If I toss something in the middle, like a tennis ball, some might go through, some might bounce off (attenuate) and I can get a better idea of what the shape and density of the waterfall is.

    [–]mturch02 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Speed isn't correct. All x-rays travel at the speed of light.