Abstract
There has been a need to create bremsstrahlung radiation to facilitate the energy world with much more important radiation. The bremsstrahlung radiation is achieved through the loss of already energized electrons occurring in a high electron field. Due to its function in radiological technology, the paper investigates bremsstrahlung’s existence occurring in a medium. This paper analyses the radiation’s impact, its operational mechanisms, types of commonly used radiations, and their application. The paper discovered that bremsstrahlung and other radiations occur in a high megaelectronvolt field. Some of the general applications of radiations are that they are important for treatment and screening. The paper is theoretical, in that the explanation therein is done in accordance with the already available research. That means the paper is not an empirical experiment but outlines the main aspects of bremsstrahlung and other radiations exhaustively.
Introduction
A process that creates a dominant electromagnetic event generates an interaction between highly energized electron beams, and the matter is known as bremsstrahlung. In plasma, the bremsstrahlung occurs as a response of energized electrons acting in a ubiquitous modus. The bremsstrahlung emission occurs sufficiently at a high field of electron energy at approximately a hundred megaelectronvolts (Embréus et al., 2016). The dogma is that the high megaelectronvolts trigger an intense electron collision that happens due to ubiquitous progression, causing the energized electrons to create bremsstrahlung.
Bremsstrahlung is a form of energy released by energized electrons and is important (Embréus et al., 2016). The bremsstrahlung affects the electrons occurring at lower energies, such as the ion species filled with plasma. The laboratory and space aspects have runway mechanisms that offer energized electrons the chance to engage in this effective electron accelerated system. The formation of bremsstrahlung is highly sensitive to the extent that, at times, fractions of particles that are highly charged disengage from the larger population. The detached particles accelerate to higher energies that result in the imperative radioactive losses known as bremsstrahlung. Understanding the bremsstrahlung of electrons in the medium is impactful and has a specific operational mechanism that causes various radiation types to occur for a particular application.
The Radiation Impacts and Uses
Biological Impact and Uses
Since it is a form of energy, radiation is impactful to the current life. Unfortunately, when used in a larger amount, the radiations become a threat. Realistic examples of radiations are kinetic energy, sunlight, and electricity. These radiating elements are dangerous if consumed in larger amounts. On the contrary, when used in small quantities, the emission becomes a form of energy that offers beneficial or inconsequential rewards. Ionizing radiations, including gamma rays, alpha particles, neutrons, and beta particles, all have ionizing characteristics to ionize the atoms that they meet. Ionization processes, as explained by UNEP (2016), eliminate ions from atoms. The unfortunate aspect is that the action causes biological damage, as this interferes with the DNA structure. The latter has the ability to do self-repair if the molecules are damaged in the process. The repairing process, however, leads to mutation or cell death. The worst is that mutations lead to the creation of cancerous cells. It is agreeable that as much as radiation technique is important, poor exposure to these radiations damages human DNA, and in the worst scenario, causes cancer. When exposed in small doses, radiation has the ability of down project the cancer cells.
The notion that radiation has the power of damaging the DNA is a consideration that the availability of electrons can be applied to kill malignant cells. The total amount of radiation, occurring in radiotherapy is sensitive to stage and type of cancer infections. The proper radiation dosage that can be used effectively to manage early stages of cancer range from 20 to 80 GY. This dosage as well is applicable in controlling solid tumors. The prescription is important because if it is over-delivered just in a single measure, it increases the risk of threatening the patient’s life. For effective treatment of cancer, therefore, the application of the radiation quantities should be in repeated fractions, that are in utmost 2 GY. If the dosage is offered consistently and in the right portion, the possibility of the cells having normal tissue recovery procedure is high. Secondly, proper medicament helps support the death of tumor cells considering that the effect is that the cells become less efficient in repairing.
Influence on Chemical and Electrical Properties
In orthovoltage medium or radiotherapy and medical imaging, various fields of applied physics benefit from angular emissions of electrons and bremsstrahlung energy. The main collisional process of energies with a photon is photoelectric absorption (Xu et al., 2018). However, the absorption occurs at varied keV scenarios, thus resulting in scattering of the electrons that are knocked out by the Compton scattering process (Xu et al., 2018). During the collision, more energetic photons appear with the ability to propagate atmospheric distances. In the process, there ensues more production of electrons regardless of the low altitude. Once the process is complete, it becomes easier to measure the resultant bremsstrahlung induced electrons. The advantageous part is that the altitude distributed electrons become helpful in exploring the precipitation properties.
Precipitating electrons have the potential to move in the form of bremsstrahlung photons. The move leads to an ionization process that occurs at a lowered altitude compared to the ionization process’s direct impact. The process occurs due to the bremsstrahlung attenuation length, which takes longer than the energy electrons. In the event, the increase in precipitating energy occurs, hereafter, the bremsstrahlung process develops to efficiency (Xu et al., 2018). The development process creates more deposition of energy as well as an atmospheric ionization process. Afterward, the X-flux that receives measurements in the stratosphere with the relevant energetic electrons will provide valuable information concerning the precipitation source. The assumption here is that the impact of radiation causes atmospheric movements, which, in turn, create the transfer of data.
The Operation of Radiations
The operational technique of radiation depends on the available technologies. Linear accelerator (linac) is one of the systems that increase a particle’s kinetic energy by oscillating electric potentials (Hodges & Barzilov, 2018). That means, electrons that are at keV when released will undergo acceleration of up to 20 MeV. The accelerators such as linacs are crucial in radiation, making them useful in isotope production, radiotherapy, cargo inspections, and physics, among other areas.
It happens that the energy of a given photon incident becomes greater compared to the energy that certifies neutron binding that it interacts with. In this way, there occurs the production of a neutral electron reaction in the context of the (y, n) (Hodges & Barzilov, 2018). The energy reaction that appears greater than the 10 MeV (y,n) will take place in the material responsible for accelerating structural facilities (Hodges & Barzilov, 2018). In such a scenario, the radiation safety aspects come into play, as they are crucial in operating linacs with bremsstrahlung converters.
That means the high-energy photons become more effective when the photo-neutrons are generated by linac on person and materials. The scenario will demand quantifying the energy deposited by radiation; the moment matter comes into play. The primary concern in the context of radiation operation is paying attention to the dose factor. As explained by Hodges & Barzilov (2018), the prescribed quantity is the description of the radiating amount of energy required to control or repair cells or a material. On the other hand, the biological dose is the entire energy that living tissue receives from deposits intended to offer repairing mechanisms.
To attain quality factors in the operation of radiations, it requires multiplying the dose to the quality factor. In this regard, the quality factor needs to bear the values that follow: Q = 1 for x-rays, beta particles, or gamma rays (Hodges & Barzilov, 2018). For the alpha particles, Q equates to 20 alpha particles in the presence of heavy ions, for instance, the fission fragments. Generally, the operation of these radiations or electronics is highly dependent on the ability to give a quality result. Quality results, on the other hand, are highly dependent on the dosage of the entire process.
Types of Radiations
Bremsstrahlung is a Radiation
The energy conservation principle outlines that X-ray photon production occurs when an electron loses its kinetic energy. Therefore, Kinetic Energy equivalents to the electron’s kinetic energy subtracted from the X-ray photon’s energy (Choi & Lee, 2020). The emission of the resultant lost energy is in the state of X-ray photons specified as bremsstrahlung radiation. That means the first notable radiation is the bremsstrahlung. One outstanding bremsstrahlung character is that the radiation is constituted by any energy ranging from zero to maximum electron bombardment. The maximum barrage is relational to the amount of influence of the electrons in an electric field.
Alpha Radiations
Alpha radiation is another type of radiation that influences the technological world immensely. This radiation’s characteristic is that it is heavy with a very short range and occurs as an ejected helium nucleus (Hodges & Barzilov, 2018). Since the radiation is heavy, some of the substance’s power does not penetrate a human’s skin. If a human swallows, inhales, or the materials are absorbed in the body by whichever means, they become dangerous to human health. Fortunately, the material’s measuring is very much possible, considering the current technology is equipped to manage the substance.
Beta Radiation
Another imperative radiation influencing humanity today is the beta radiation. Unlike alpha radiation, beta is lighter but short-ranged too. The electron’s creation is through ejection, though the electron can travel creditable feet in the air. Beta radiation easily penetrates human skin to the germinal layer, a region that produces new skin cells. Beta radiations have the potential of causing skin injury if only the electrons are allowed in the body for a prolonged period (Hodges & Barzilov, 2018). The contaminants that emit beta electrons are a threat to humans if they are deposited externally.
The Gamma and X radiations
The X-rays and gamma radiation are among the highly penetrating radiations. The emissions’ all-pervading power can be appreciated in relation to the following characterizations. Both the x-ray and gamma radiations travel for a longer distance in the air and go deeper into human tissues. It is through this characteristic that the radiations are sometimes referred to use the penetrating radiation. The machines that emit these radiations are to be sealed form the perception that they have a high external hazard to humans. The x rays and gamma radiations are like the radio waves, visible light, and ultraviolet light because they are electromagnetic. The only difference between the two is the amount of energy each one has. Arguably, x rays and gamma radiations are some of the most energetic electrons known so far.
The Application of Radiations
By referring to the linac aspects, radiations are essential in both the non-destructive and inspection systems in generating high-energy photons. The high-energy photons are significantly used for the penetration of objects that require scrutiny. In such a case, the already accelerated electrons undergo salvo to a target that has high-Z material (Hodges & Barzilov, 2018). Through an electric field, the incident electrons will undergo deflection and lose the accumulated kinetic energy required for the occurrence of bremsstrahlung. The meaningful process, which involves the generation of photons and energy against a matter or the desired beam, creates collimated photons. The photons then become useful in producing images, supporting radiotherapy and performing new materials’ assay, and producing medical isotopes in some scenarios. The most common application of these radiations, especially the gamma radiation and x-rays, is imaging (Hodges & Barzilov, 2018). They are used to image tumors in humans, thus helping to correct the tumors by killing tumor-related cells. That explains the curative nature of these radiations, applied in the context of cancer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, technology has changed the way people live and approach the aspects of treatment. The discovery of bremsstrahlung has geared the aspect of studying radiations. Other radiations such as gamma and x rays, beta, and alpha radiations came to existence through bremsstrahlung. The central element here is that the radiations are useful in assessing tumors in humans as well as scanning for metals in places that require it such as airport terminals. In that regard, people are at liberty of receiving the treatment they need, considering that the healing mechanism offered by these radiations are real. Thus far, it is important to note that despite the danger associated with these radiations, if cautiousness is put to the test, people’s safety is upheld, and at the same time, healing from some diseases is guaranteed.
References
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Embréus, O., Stahl, A., & Fülöp, T. (2016). Effect of bremsstrahlung radiation emission on fast electrons in plasmas. New Journal of Physics, 18(9). Web.
Hodges, M., & Barzilov, A. (2018). Radiation safety aspects of linac operation with bremsstrahlung converters. In I. Ahmad & M. Maaza (Eds.), Accelerator physics: Radiation safety and applications (pp. 123-146). InTech.
UNEP. (2016). Radiation: Effects and sources [PDF]. Web.
Xu, W., Marshall, R. A., Fang, X., Turunen, E., & Kero, A. (2018). On the effects of bremsstrahlung radiation during energetic electron precipitation. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(2), 1167-1176. Web.