Chapter 8 Key Terms

Question 1

Bremsstrahlung interactions

Answer 1

an incident electron interacts with the force field of the nucleus, causing the incident electron to slow down, thus diverting the electron’s course. The electron loses energy and changes direction. The energy lost is a bremsstrahlung photon, and the photon energy is half the difference between the entering and exiting kinetic energy of the electron

Question 2

Characteristic cascade

Answer 2

the reaction of electrons dropping into the holes created during a characteristic interaction until there is only a hole in the outer shell

Question 3

Characteristic interactions

Answer 3

the incident electron interacts with an inner-shell electron, knocking out the inner-shell electron and continuing in a slightly different direction, which creates a hole in the inner shell, making the shell unstable

Question 4

Characteristic peak

Answer 4

occurs when K-shell emissions reach their effective energy range of 69 keV

Question 5

Incident electrons

Answer 5

the electrons from the thermionic cloud that arrive at the anode target

Question 6

Target interactions

Answer 6

the actions that take place when the electrons strike their target or focal spot