The radiations emitted by the x-ray machines that are used in hospital

According to Burnett and Munro (2005), the x-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen in 1895, but then the discovery came by default because this he was just carrying out experiments as usual. This particular experiment revolved around his wife’s hand, but he had done the experiment previously using his hand hence this one was just for confirmation purposes. He took a shot of his wife’s hand and the image that was captured was quite amazing because he was able to see the bones and the wedding ring. What puzzled him the most was the fact that he could not see the flesh, but that was the start of x-ray technology.

X-ray uses electromagnetic radiation, which is derived from the ejection of electrons that are placed in a tunnel inside the device. There are blocks of energy that are formed during the ejections and they are called photons, and they are the ones that form the rays. The electrons are ejected towards a metallic object and their impact upon hitting the object is what creates the radiations. The x-rays have short wavelengths and that is why they have more energy. When an object is observed through x-ray, the detectors interpret the image by identifying the photons of light emitted by the device.

The radiations emitted by the x-ray machines that are used in hospitals and other places are artificial because naturally there are many sources of electromagnetic radiations. Among the natural sources of electromagnetic radiations include the sun, stars, and comets. However, the earth is protected from these radiations by the ozone layer, in addition to its thickness. The radiations that land on earth are not harmful, but long term exposure can be disastrous because the radiations are perceived to cause skin cancer in humans.

Brenner (2010) argues that if humans’ eyes were to be like x-rays, we would not recognize any color or clothes because in such a view one can only see the flesh and the bones. This means that human vision is much better than x-ray’s because we can notice things by their distinct colors. X-rays can not be seen without an x-ray sensitive film that has to be placed below or inside the object that is observed. For instance, when the doctor is diagnosing a broken limb using the x-ray, the film has to be placed on one side of the limb for the image to be captured.