CGS-201 X-Ray physics

Ch-2: The Structure of Matter

2018

-Atom-
Greek Dalton Dmitri Mendeleev
• Matter was composed of 4 • He published a book • Showed that if elements
substances: earth, water, air, fire & summarizing his were arranged in order of
modified by 4 basic essences: wet, experiments, which increasing atomic mass, a
dry, hot, cold. showed that the periodic repetition of
• They use the term atom, meaning elements could be similar chemical
‘indivisible’ {a(not)+temon(cut)}, to classified according properties occurred.
describe the smallest part of the 4 to integral values of • His work resulted in the
substances of matter. atomic mass. first periodic table of
• 118 substances or elements have elements.
been identified; 92 are naturally • Superscript the atomic
occurring, 26 have been artificially number.
produced in high-energy particle • Subscript  the element
accelerators. mass.
 An atom is the smallest particle that
has all the properties of an element.
 Many particles are much smaller than
the atom, these are called subatomic
particles.

Thomson Rutherford Niels Bohr

• He described the atom as looking • He described the  Bohr atom contains a
something like a plum pudding, in atom as containing a small, dense positively
which the plums represented negative small, dense, charged nucleus
electric charge (electrons) and the positively charged surrounded by negatively
pudding was a shapeless mass of center surrounded charged electrons that
uniform positive electrification. by a negative cloud revolve in fixed, well-
• The number of electrons equal to the of electrons. defined orbits about the
quantity of positive electrification • He called the center nucleus.
because the atom was known to be of atom the nuclear.
electrically neutral.

• -Fundamental particles-
The fundamental particles of an atom are the electron, the proton and the neutron.
• The atom can be viewed as a miniature solar system whose sun is the nucleus and whose
planets are the electrons.
In the normal atom the number of electrons is equal to the positive charges in the nucleus → atoms
are electrically neutral
• Nucleons ↔ protons and neutrons are composed of quarks that are held together by gluons.
• Electrons; very small particles carrying one unit of negative charge.
• Mass of atomic particle is expressed in atomic mass units (amu).
• One atomic mass unit is equal to one-twelfth (1/12) the mass of a carbon -12 atom.
• The primary difference between a proton and a neutron is electric charge.
 • The proton carries one unit of positive charge.
• The neutron, no charge, electrically neutral.
• When precision is not necessary a system of whole numbers called atomic mas numbers is
used.
charge Atomic mass number mass
Electrons - 0 9.1 X 10-31 kg
Protons + 1 1.673 X 10-27 kg
Neutrons No charge 1 1.675 X 10-27 kg

-Atomic structure-
• The nucleus of an atom is very small, but contains nearly all the mass of the atom
(it contains most of its mass, because it contains all the neutrons and protons).
• For e.g. the nucleus of uranium atom contains 99.998% of the entire mass of the atom.
• The atom is essentially empty space.
• The possible electron orbits are grouped into different “shells”.
• Arrangement of these shells determine how an atom reacts chemically.
• The number of protons determines the chemical element.
• Atoms that have same number of protons but different number of neutrons are called
isotopes.
• Isotopes behave in the same way in chemical reaction.
• Periodic table has matter in order of increasing complexity beginning with hydrogen (H).
• An atom of hydrogen has 1 proton in the nucleus and 1 electron outside the nucleus.
• Helium (He) contains two protons, two neutrons and two electrons.
• Lithium (Li) has three protons, four neutrons and three electrons
2 electrons  in K shell
1 electron  in L shell.
• Electrons can exist only in certain shells, which represent different electron binding energies
or energy levels.
• The electron shells are given code K,L,M,N ---- to represent relative binding energies.
• The closer an electron is to the nucleus, the higher its binding energy.
• The most complex naturally occurring element is uranium (U)
(it’s the largest naturally occurring atom).
• Uranium has 92 protons and 146 neutrons the electron distribution is
K→ 2, L → 8,M → 18, N → 32, O → 21, P → 9, Q → 2. {fig.2-6, page31}
• The closest electron to the nucleus, the greater binding energy.
• The total number of electrons in the orbital shells is exactly equal to the number of protons in
the nucleus.
 • If an atom has an extra electron or has had an electron removed, it is said to be ionized.
• Ionized atom is not electrically neutral but carries a charge equal in magnitude to the
difference between the numbers of electrons and protons.
• Atoms cannot be ionized by the addition or subtraction of protons because they are bound
very strongly together, and that action would change the type of atom.
• Alteration in the number of neutrons does not ionize an atom → neutron is electrically
neutral.
• The X-ray transfers its energy to an orbital electron and ejects the electron from the atom.
• In all except the lightest atoms the number of neutrons is always greater than the number of
protons.
• The ionized atom and the released electron are called an ion pair.
• The remaining atom has a net electric charge of +1.
• Ionization is the removal of an orbital electron form an atom.
• The larger the atom, the greater the abundance of neutrons over protons.

-Electron arrangement-
• The maximum number of electrons that can exist in each shell increases with the distance of
the shell from the nucleus.
• Maximum electrons per shell = 2n2. Where ‘n’ is the shell number.
Q: What is the maximum number of electrons that can exist in the O shell?
O shell → fifth shell from the nucleus .
→ n=5 → 2n2
→ 2(5)→ 2(25) = 50 electrons.
This is a theoretical value. Even the largest atom does not completely fill shell O or higher.
• Maximum number of electrons in each shell {Table2-2, page32}.
• The number of electrons in the outermost shell of an atom is equal to its group in the periodic
table.
• The number of electrons in the outermost shell determines the valence of an atom.
• The number of the outermost electron shell of an atom is equal to its period in the table.
• Oxygen has eight electrons.
Two in the K shell and six in the L shell.
Oxygen is in the second period and the sixth group of the periodic table.
• Aluminum has 13 electrons, two in the K shell, eight in the L shell, and three in the M shell.
Aluminum is in the third period (M shell) and third group (three electrons) of the periodic
table.
 Q: What are the period and the group for the gastrointestinal contrast agent, barium?
Period 6 and group 2
• No outer shell can contain more than eight electrons.
• All atoms having one electron in the outer shell → group I
• Two electrons → group II
• When eight electrons are in the outer shell, the shell is filled.
• Atoms with filled outer shells → group VIII, the noble gases are very stable.
• In the fourth period instead of adding electrons to the next outer shell, electrons are added to
an inner shell → transitional elements.
• The chemical properties of the transitional elements depends on the number of electrons in
the two outermost shells.
• The shell notation of the electron arrangement of an atom identifies:
➢ The relative distance of an electron from the nucleus.
➢ Relative energy by which the electron is attached to the nucleus.
• The force that keeps an electron in orbit is the centripetal force → opposite charges attract.
• The centripetal force just balances the force created by the electron velocity.
• The centrifugal force → the electrons maintain their distance from the nucleus traveling in a
circular or elliptical path.

-Electron binding energy-

• The strength of attachment of an electron to the nucleus is called the electron binding energy
( Eb ).
• The closer the atom to the nucleus, the more tightly it is bound.
• K-shell electrons have higher binding energies than L-shell electrons, L-shell electrons are
more tightly bound to the nucleus than M-shell electrons.
• The greater the total number of electrons in an atom, the more tightly each is bound.
• The larger and more complex the atom, the higher the Eb for electrons in any given shell.
• Electrons of atoms with many protons are more tightly bound to the nucleus than small atoms.
• More energy is needed to ionize a large atom than a small atom.

-Binding energy of electrons of atoms of radiologic importance-

Q: How much energy is required to ionize tungsten by removal of a K-shell electron?
The minimum energy → 70keV → less than that the atom cannot be ionized.
• Carbon (C) an important component of human tissue, Eb for outer shell electrons is only
10eV. But approximately 34 eV is necessary to ionize tissue atoms. The value 34eV is called
 the ionization potential. The difference 24 eV, causes multiple electron excitations, which
ultimately result in heat.
Q: How much more energy is necessary to ionize barium than to ionize carbon by removal of
K-shell electrons?
Eb (Ba) = 37,400 eV
Eb (C) = 300 eV
Difference = 37,100 eV
=37.1 keV.

-Atomic nomenclature-
• Element indicated by alphabetic abbreviations → chemical symbols
• Chemical properties of an element are determined by the number and arrangement of
electrons.
• The no of protons→ atomic number represented by Z
• The no of protons + no. of neutrons → atomic mass number → symbol is A
• The atomic mass no. and the precise mass of an atom are not equal.
• Actual atomic mass of an atom determined by measurement and rarely a whole number.
(135 Ba has A = 135 because its nucleus contains 56 protons and 79 neutrons, the atomic mass
of 135 Ba is 134.91 amu)
• Only one atom 12 C has an atomic mass equal to its atomic mass number.
This is because the 12 C atom is the arbitrary standard for atomic measure.
• Many elements in their natural state are composed of atoms with
➢ different atomic mass numbers and
➢ different atomic masses
but
➢ identical atomic numbers.
• The characteristic mass of an element → elemental mass, determined by the relative
abundance of isotopes and their respective atomic masses.
• Ba→ At.no 56. the atomic mass number of its most abundant isotope is 138.
Natural Barium, consists of seven different isotopes
Atomic mass numbers are 130,132, 134, 135,136, 137 and 138.
The elemental mass is determined by the average weight of all these isotopes.

-Isotopes-
• Atoms that have the same atomic number but different atomic mass numbers are isotopes.
• Same number of protons but varying number of neutrons.
• The seven natural isotopes of Barium are 130Ba, 132Ba, 134Ba, 135Ba, 136Ba, 137Ba, 138Ba.
 Q. How many protons and neutrons are in each of the seven naturally occurring isotopes of
Barium?
A. The number of protons in each isotope is 56. the number of neutrons is equal to A-Z.
130
Ba: 130 - 56 = 74 neutrons
132
Ba: 132 – 56 = 76 neutrons
134
Ba: 134 – 56 = 78 neutrons and so on.

-Isobar-
• Atomic nuclei that have the same atomic mass number but different atomic numbers are
isobars.
• They have different numbers of protons and different numbers of neutrons but the same total
number of nucleons.
• Isobaric radioactive transitions from parent atom to daughter atom result form the release of
beta particle or positron.
• The parent and daughter are atoms of different elements.

-Isotone-
• Are atoms with different atomic numbers and different mass numbers but a constant value for
the quantity A-Z.
• They have same number of neutrons in the nucleus.
• Atoms that have the same number of neutrons but different numbers of protons are isotones.

-Isomers-
• Have same atomic number and the same atomic mass number.
• Are identical atoms except that they exist in different energy states because of the differences
in nucleon arrangement.
• Technetium -99m decays to technetium-99 with the emission of a 140-keV gamma ray,
which is useful in nuclear medicine.
arrangement Atomic no Atomic mass no Neutrons no
Isotope Same Different Different
Isobar Different Same Different
Isotone Different Different Same
Isomer Same Same Same

▪ Isotope, same proton

▪ Isobar, same A
▪ Isotone, same neutron
▪ Isomer, metastable
 Q. From the following list of atoms, pick out those that are isotopes, isobars, and isotones.

54 Xe 131, 53I130, 55Cs 132, 53 I 131 .

130
53I , 53 I 131 are isotopes.

53 I 131 , 54 Xe 131 are isobars.

130
53I , 54 Xe 131 , 55Cs 132 are isotones.

-combination of atom-
• Molecule: atoms of various elements may combine to form structures called molecules.
• Four atoms of hydrogen and two atoms of oxygen can combine to form two molecules of
water (2H2 + O2 → 2 H2O).
• An atom of sodium (Na) can combine with an atom of chlorine (Cl) to form a molecule of
sodium chloride (Na + Cl →NaCl)
• Molecules in turn combine to form larger structures; cells and tissues.

-Compound-
• A chemical compound is any quantity of one type of molecule.
• The formula NaCl represents one molecule of the compound sodium chloride.
• Sodium chloride has properties that are different from either sodium or chlorine.

• -Covalent bonds-
Atoms combine with each other to form compounds in two main ways.
• Oxygen and hydrogen combine into water through covalent bonds.
(Oxygen has six electrons in its outermost shell, it has room for two more electrons, so in a
water molecule two hydrogen atoms share their single electrons with the oxygen).
• This covalent bonding is characterized by the sharing of electrons.

-Ionic bonds-
• Sodium and chlorine combine into salt through ionic bonds.
• Sodium has one electron in its outermost shell, Chlorine has space for one more electron in its
outermost shell, The sodium will give up its electron to the chlorine, Sodium becomes a
positive ion and chlorine a negative ion.
• The two are attracted to each other, resulting in ionic bond because they have opposite
electrostatic charge.
• The smallest particle of an element is an atom, the smallest particle of a compound is a
molecule.
 -Radioactivity-
• Some atoms exist in abnormally excited state characterized by an unstable nucleus.
• To reach stability, the nucleus spontaneously emits particles and energy and transforms itself
into another atom.
• This process is called radioactive disintegration or radioactive decay.
• The atoms involved are radionuclides.
• Only nuclei that undergo radioactive decay are radionuclides.
• Radioactivity is the emission of particles and energy in order to become stable.

-Radioisotopes
• The most important factor affecting nuclear stability is the number of neutrons.
• When a nucleus has either too few or too many neutrons, the atom can disintegrate
radioactively, bringing the number of neutrons and protons to a stable and proper ratio.

-Artificial Radioisotopes
• Many elements have stable isotopes and radioisotopes (or radioactive isotopes).
• May be artificially produced in machines such as particle accelerators or nuclear reactors.
• Seven radioisotopes of barium have been discovered all of which are artificially produced.
• They are 127Ba, 128Ba, 129Ba, 131Ba, 133Ba, 139Ba, 140Ba

-Natural radioisotopes-
• Two primary sources
• Some originated at the time of earth’s formation and still decaying very slowly.
• E.g. is uranium ultimately decays to radium, which in turn decays to radon.
• These and other decay products of uranium are also radioactive.
• Others such as 14C are continuously produced in the upper atmosphere by the action of
cosmic radiation.

-Radioactive decay
• Radioactive isotopes can decay to stability in many ways.
• But only two- beta emission and alpha emission are of particular importance.
• -Beta emission
During beta emission, an electron is created in the nucleus is ejected from the nucleus with
considerable kinetic energy and escapes from the atom.
• The result is loss of small quantity of mass and one unit of negative electric charge from the
nucleus of the atom.
• Simultaneously, a neutron undergoes conversion to a proton.
• The result of beta emission therefore is to increase the atomic number by one (Z → Z+1).
• The atomic mass number remains the same.
• This nuclear transformation therefore results in an atom changing from one type of element to
another.
• 131
I decays to 131 Xe with the emission of beta particle.
{fig.2-12, page38}.

-Alpha emission-
• Much more violent process.
• Alpha particle consists of two protons and two neutrons bound together.
• Its atomic mass number is 4.
• A nucleus must be extremely unstable to emit an alpha particle.
• When a nucleus emits alpha particle, it loses two units of positive charge and four units of
mass.
• The resulting atom is chemically different and lighter by 4 amu.
• The decay of 226 Ra to 222 Rn is accompanied by alpha emission.
{fig.2-13, page38}.

****
• Radioactive decay results in emission of alpha particles, beta particles and usually gamma
rays.
• Beta emission occurs much more frequently than alpha emission.
• Virtually all radioisotopes are capable of transformation by beta emission, but only heavy
radioisotopes are capable of alpha emission.
• Some radioisotopes are pure beta emitters or pure alpha emitters.
• Most emit gamma rays simultaneously with the particle emission.
• 139
Ba 56 is a radioactive isotope that decays by beta emission. What will be the values of A
and Z for the atom that results from this emission?
• In beta emission a neutron is converted to a proton and a beta particle: n → p + β
139
Ba 56 → 139 La 57.
 -Radioactive half-life-
• Radioisotopes disintegrate into stable isotopes of different elements at a decreasing rate, so
that the quantity of radioactive material never quite reaches zero.
• Radioactive material is measured in curies (Ci).
• 1 Ci = 3.7 X 10 10 atoms disintegrating each second (3.7 X 10 10 Bq).
• The rate of radioactive decay and the quantity of material present at any given time are
described mathematically by a formula known as the radioactive decay law.
• Form this formula we obtain a quantity known as half-life (T ½ ).
• The half-life of a radioisotope is the time required for a quantity of radioactivity to be
reduced to one-half its original value.
• Half life of radioisotopes vary from less than a second to many years.
• Each radioisotope has a unique, characteristic half-life.
• The half-life of 131I is 8 days . If 100 mCi (3.7 X 109 Bq) of 131I were present on january 1 at
noon, then at noon on Jan 9th only 50 mCi (1.85 X 109 Bq ) would remain. On january 17, 25
mCi and on January 25 12.5 mCi would remain.
• A plot of the radioactive decay of 131
I allows one to determine the amount of radioactivity
remaining after any given time.
• Linear graph of radioactive decay  131I decays with a half-life of 8 days. This linear graph
allows estimation of radioactivity only for a short time.
{fig.2-14, page38}.

-semilog graph-
• The linear –linear plot of decay of is difficult to interpret after few half-lives.
• With the semilogarithmic form one can estimate radioactivity after a very long time.
• To use these graphs one must express the initial radioactivity as 100% and convert the time of
interest to units of half-life.
• For decay times exceeding three half-lives, the semilog form is easier to use.
• 65 mCi (2.4 X 109Bq) of 131I are present at noon on Wednesday.
How much will remain 1 week later?
• 7 days = 7/8 T½ = 0.875 T½ .
• Fig shows that at 0.875 T½ approximately 55% of the initial radioactivity will remain;
55% X 65mCi (2.4 X 109Bq) = 0.55 X 65 = 35.8 mCi (1.32 X 109Bq)
-14C Half-life-
• 14
C is a naturally occuring radioisotope with T½ = 5730 years.
• The concentration of 14C is constant and 14C is incorporated into living materials at a constant
rate.
 -Radiocarbon dating {fig2-17, page40}
• Trees of Petrified Forest contain less 14C than living trees because the 14C of living trees is in
equillibrium with the atmosphere.
• The carbon in a petrified tree was fixed many thousands of years ago and the fixed 14C is
reduced with time by radioactive decay.
• If a piece of petrified wood contains 25% of the 14C that a tree living today contains, how old
is the petrified wood?
• The petrified wood has been dead long enough for 14C to decay to 25% of its original value.
That time period represents two half-lives.
• We can estimate that the petrified wood is approximately 2X 5730 = 11,460 years old.

Q: How many half-lives are required before a quantity of radioactive material has decayed to less
than 1% of its original value?
Half-life number • Radioactivity remaining
1 • 50%
2 • 25%
3 • 12.5%
4 • 6.25%
5 • 3.12%
6 • 1.56%
7 • 0.78%

A simpler approach is to count half- lives

• Activity remaining = Original Activity (0.5)n.
• The concept of half-life is essential to radiology.
• Used daily in nuclear medicine and has an exact parallel in x-ray terminology, the half-value
layer.

-Types of ionizing radiation-

• All ionizing radiation can be classified into two categories
➢ Particulate radiation
➢ Electromagnetic radiation
• The types of radiation used in diagnostic ultrasound and in magnetic resonance imaging are
nonionizing radiation.
• Although all ionizing radiation acts on the biologic tissue in the same manner, there are
fundamental differences between various types of radiation.
• These differences can be analyzed according to five physical characteristics;
Mass, Energy, Velocity, Charge, Origin.
 Type of radiation Symbol Atomic mass Charge Origin
no
Particular:
Alpha radiation α 4 +2 Nucleus
Beta radiation β- 0 -1 Nucleus
β+ 0 +1 Nucleus
Electromagnetic :
Gamma rays γ 0 0 Nucleus
X-rays X 0 0 Electron cloud

-Particulate radiation-
• Many subatomic particles are capable of causing ionization.
• Electrons, protons , even rare nuclear fragments can all be classified as particulate radiation if
they are in motion and posses sufficient kinetic energy.
• At rest they cannot cause ionization.
• Two main types of particulate radiation: alpha particles, beta particles.
• Both are associated with radioactive decay.
• An alpha particle is a helium nucleus containing two protons and two neutrons.
• Compared with an electron, the alpha particle is large and exerts a great electrostatic force.

-Alpha particles
• Alpha particles are emitted only from the nuclei of heavy elements.
• Light elements cannot emit alpha particles because they do not have enough excess mass
(excess energy).
• Once emitted from the radioactive atom, the alpha particles travels with high velocity through
matter.
• Because of its great mass and charge, it easily transfers this kinetic energy to orbital electrons
of other atoms.
• Ionization accompanies alpha radiation.
• The average alpha particle possess 4 to 7 MeV of kinetic energy and ionizes approximately
40,000 atoms for centimeter of travel through air.
• Because of this amount of ionization, the energy of alpha particle is quickly lost.
• It has a very short range in matter.
• In air, alpha particles can travel approximately 5 cm, whereas in soft tissue the range may be
less than 100μm.
• Alpha radiation from an external source is nearly harmless because radiation energy is
deposited in the superficial layers of skin.
• With an internal source of radiation, just the opposite is true.
• If an alpha-emitting radioisotope is deposited in the body, it can intensely irradiate the local
tissue.

-Beta particle
• A beta particle is an electron emitted from the nucleus of a radioactive atom.
• Beta particles differ from alpha particles in both mass and charge.
• They are light particles with an atomic mass number of zero and carry one unit of negative or
positive charge.
• The only difference between electrons and negative beta particles is their origin.
• Beta particles originate in the nuclei of radioactive atoms and electrons exist in shells outside
the nuclei of all atoms.
• Once emitted from a radioisotope, beta particles transverse air, ionizing several hundred
atoms per centimeter.
• The beta particle range is longer than that for the alpha particle.
• Depending on its energy, a beta particle may transverse 10 to 100cm of air and approximately
1 to 2cm of soft tissue.

-Electromagnetic radiation
• X-rays and gamma rays are forms of electromagnetic radiation
• X-rays and gamma rays are often called photons.
• Photons have no mass and no charge.
• They travel at the speed of light (c = 3X 108 m/s) and are considered energy disturbances in
space.
• X-rays and gamma rays are the only forms of ionizing electromagnetic radiation of radiologic
interest.
• The only difference between x-rays and gamma rays is their origin.
• Gamma rays are emitted from the nucleus of a radioisotope and are usually associated with
alpha or beta emission
• X-rays are produced outside the nucleus in the electron shells
• X-rays and gamma rays exist either at the speed of light or not at all.
• Once emitted they have an ionization rate in air of approximately 100 ion pairs/cm, about
equal to that of alpha particles.
• Photon radiation loses intensity with distance but theoretically never reaches zero.
• Particulate radiation on the other hand, has finite range in matter and that range depends on
the particle’s energy. {Table2-6, page42}.
• Different types of radiation ionized matter with different degrees of efficiency.
• Alpha particles are highly ionizing radiation with a very short range in matter.
• Beta particles do not ionize so readily and have a longer range.
• X-rays have a low ionization rate and a very long range.