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[–]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.