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A Theory of the Action of X-rays on living Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2008

J. A. Crowther
Affiliation:
St John's College

Extract

The absorption by matter of energy from a beam of X-rays follows laws which are now well known. The first stage is the ejection from the absorbing atom of a high speed electron. This electron, in turn, produces pairs of ions from some of the molecules through which it passes until its energy is all spent. The process is essentially a discontinuous one in space, and the proportion of atoms affected at a given time is always exceedingly minute, even with an intense beam of radiation. With a beam of average intensity an individual atom would suffer ionisation, on an average, about once in a million years.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge Philosophical Society 1926

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References

* Crowther, J. A., Proc. Roy. Soc. B, vol. xcvi, p. 207 (1924).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Loc. cit.

Proc. Roy. Soc. B, vol. xcv, p. 373 (1923).Google Scholar