The Dependence of X-Ray Attenuation Parameters of (Al, Cu, And Zr) Metals on their Atomic Number

Abstract

This paper studied X-ray attenuation in metals (Al-13, Cu-29, Zr-40). X-ray energy of 17 keV of kα line of molybdenum was directed to metal bars with 0.05 cm thickness. These three metals have differences in their atomic numbers and electronic distributions in the electronic shells; aluminium (Al-13) was chosen as the low atomic number, copper (Cu-29), and zirconium (Zr-40) as the high atomic number. The linear and mass attenuation coefficients, atomic and electronic cross-sections, and electron density for X-ray attenuation through each element were determined experimentally. The results explained a new idea to describe X-ray scattering: the effect of valance and bound electron (electron distribution) of the metals. The metal with more bound electrons in its outermost shell scattered more radiation for a specific range of energy, even though the metal has a less atomic number.

Keywords

• X-Ray attenuation
• X-Ray scattering
• Atomic number
• valance electrons
• Bound electrons