- #1
Spacec0wboy
- 14
- 0
Hi all,
I am new to the forums, so try to persevere with my general lack of knowledge. I am a student at high school and we have just recently been studying a unit in nuclear and atomic physics. I understand all the basic concepts such as the photoelectric effect, Planck's constant, electron shells of atoms (we focused on the Bohr model), nuclear fission, fusion and binding energy, as well as having a general grasp when it comes to radiation types like alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays, x-rays etc.
I currently have an assignment task where we have been asked to evaluate the protection methods used in a medical or industrial application of radiation. For my assignment I chose radiotherapy, which involves treating cancer with x-rays. I have been doing some reading on the internet related to this topic and discovered that a linear particle accelerator is responsible for generating the x-rays used in therapy. Part of the criteria for the assignment specifies that the physics behind the application must be explained in detail, meaning that I have to be able to explain how a linear accelerator works on a particle scale. I have scoured the internet for a few hours, and have come up empty handed. Every site I have visited has explained that linear accelerators are used to treat cancers, but none of them go into detail about the physics behind it, which is the information that I need. So, basically what I'm asking is, how exactly does a linear particle accelerator produce X-rays? Any help would be greatly appreciated and if you could provide any information you referred to in order to answer my question, including diagrams etc that would also be helpful. Also please try to keep the explanations as simple as possible, as I am still a physics newbie.
I am new to the forums, so try to persevere with my general lack of knowledge. I am a student at high school and we have just recently been studying a unit in nuclear and atomic physics. I understand all the basic concepts such as the photoelectric effect, Planck's constant, electron shells of atoms (we focused on the Bohr model), nuclear fission, fusion and binding energy, as well as having a general grasp when it comes to radiation types like alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays, x-rays etc.
I currently have an assignment task where we have been asked to evaluate the protection methods used in a medical or industrial application of radiation. For my assignment I chose radiotherapy, which involves treating cancer with x-rays. I have been doing some reading on the internet related to this topic and discovered that a linear particle accelerator is responsible for generating the x-rays used in therapy. Part of the criteria for the assignment specifies that the physics behind the application must be explained in detail, meaning that I have to be able to explain how a linear accelerator works on a particle scale. I have scoured the internet for a few hours, and have come up empty handed. Every site I have visited has explained that linear accelerators are used to treat cancers, but none of them go into detail about the physics behind it, which is the information that I need. So, basically what I'm asking is, how exactly does a linear particle accelerator produce X-rays? Any help would be greatly appreciated and if you could provide any information you referred to in order to answer my question, including diagrams etc that would also be helpful. Also please try to keep the explanations as simple as possible, as I am still a physics newbie.
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