Differences between the x-ray and cathode ray?
Answers
Cathode rays are a beam of electrons emerging from the cathode (the negative terminal) within an electron tube. Electrons are actual particles with mass and charge. X-rays are not charged particles but massless electromagnetic radiation.
The term "cathode ray" refers to rays that were initially identified as emanating from a crookes tube's cathode. A crookes tube is just a vacuum tube with two electrodes spaced apart by a certain amount. Later, it was discovered that cathode rays were made up of electrons, negatively charged particles. Therefore, a cathode ray is actually a beam of electrons, a massless subatomic particle.
X-rays are electromagnetic radiation, light, and photons. A charged particle will emit electromagnetic radiation when it is accelerated, according to a physical law.
Therefore, if a beam of high energy electrons is bent, as it can be done in a traditional cathode ray tube (like in old televisions), or even if it deflects off the positively charged nuclei of nearby atoms, the electrons will generate X-rays. Consequently, cathode rays frequently result in the production of x-rays.
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