X-ray tube

X-rays are produced when charged particles have very high accelerations, for example in collisions in a plasma at 2 million °C. In an x-ray tube, 20-200 KeV electrons collide with a metal target. The maximum possible x-ray photon energy corresponds to the total KE of a single electron. A typical tube is about 1% efficient with 99% of the electron energy given off as heat. In high-current, high-voltage tubes, the target is water cooled.

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