Is there a metal out there you can bombard with electrons to get gamma radiation?

3 hours ago, ALine said:

Is there a metal out there you can bombard with electrons to get gamma radiation?

It’s far easier to get x-rays this way. 

9 hours ago, ALine said:

Is there a metal out there you can bombard with electrons to get gamma radiation?

I don’t think so. 

Do beta processes (any type) emit gamma radiation?

 

10 hours ago, ALine said:

Is there a metal out there you can bombard with electrons to get gamma radiation?

X-rays and gamma rays are human-made classifications. They overlap with frequencies/energies. Classically, x-rays are photons emitted by electrons transitioning to a lower and/or to ground state of an element, and gamma radiation is emitted by an excited nucleus transitioning to a lower and/or to ground state. Sometimes X-rays have higher energy than gamma radiation, usually they have lower. To say more you need to know the number of protons in the nucleus and the atomic mass.

If a particle strikes a nucleus with a kinetic energy higher than 1.022 MeV, production of an electron-positron pair occurs, ending in annihilation, which produces gamma rays..

 

23 minutes ago, Sensei said:

X-rays and gamma rays are human-made classifications. They overlap with frequencies/energies. Classically, x-rays are photons emitted by electrons transitioning to a lower and/or to ground state of an element, and gamma radiation is emitted by an excited nucleus transitioning to a lower and/or to ground state. Sometimes X-rays have higher energy than gamma radiation, usually they have lower. To say more you need to know the number of protons in the nucleus and the atomic mass.

I knew this (that the distinction between x-rays and gamma radiation is how they are produced and not their wavelength, frequency, or energy),

 

23 minutes ago, Sensei said:

If a particle strikes a nucleus with a kinetic energy higher than 1.022 MeV, production of an electron-positron pair occurs, ending in annihilation, which produces gamma rays..

but had forgotten this (that the kinetic energy alone of the electron striking the nucleus could provide gamma radiation).

 

Edited February 16, 20241 yr by KJW

25 minutes ago, KJW said:

Do beta processes (any type) emit gamma radiation?

Beta decay can cause gamma radiation if the nucleus is not in the ground state and must return to the ground state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray#History_of_discovery

 

 

Beta decay plus will cause positron emission, so it will eventually be annihilated, and gamma rays will also be produced..