0

Some people said if it is originated from electrons then it is X-ray but if it is originated from the nucleus it is gamma ray. But people can produce X-rays and gamma rays via Bremsstrahlung process and in Bremsstrahlung process it is resulted from decelerating or braking electrons. So, gamma rays produced via Bremsstrahlung are more similar to X-rays as it is produced by electrons. Why people still calling them gamma rays although it is not generated from the nucleus?

SnoopyKid
  • 342
  • 1
    Note that Hermes III is considered a gamma simulator. It makes x-rays of an energy appropriate to simulate an intense gamma environment. – Jon Custer Oct 16 '20 at 18:04
  • 2
    But, yes, people get sloppy with the terminology. Also different disciplines use different terminology. – Jon Custer Oct 16 '20 at 18:05
  • @JonCuster that's what I'm thinking about, the radiation that HERMES III generated is more of a very high energy hard X-ray which energy overlap with 22 MeV gamma ray. – SnoopyKid Oct 17 '20 at 01:54
  • @PM2Ring you said "Bremsstrahlung is braking radiation. It is any radiation produced due to the acceleration of a charged particle." so we can say Bremsstrahlung radiation is kind of neither X-ray nor gamma ray but the energies produced are very varied that they can encompass the whole energy levels of EM spectrum? – SnoopyKid Oct 17 '20 at 01:56
  • 1
    @MohamedObeidallah Yes, Bremsstrahlung radiation can be produced in any part of the EM spectrum. Usually, Bremsstrahlung refers to the radiation given off by a charged particle travelling through an EM field, but in a sense, the EM emitted by an electron changing orbitals is also due to the acceleration of a charged particle. The same applies to a proton changing energy levels inside a nucleus, and I guess it even applies to a positron & electron annihilating each other. – PM 2Ring Oct 17 '20 at 03:10

1 Answers1

1

Gamma rays and x-rays are both electromagnetic. Gamma rays have a shorter wavelength and more energetic photons. Each is identified by the range of wavelengths rather than the source.

R.W. Bird
  • 12,139
  • 3
    This is not completely true, but discipline specific. See https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/509620/what-is-the-lowest-energy-gamma-ray?r=SearchResults for example. – Jon Custer Oct 16 '20 at 18:06
  • 2
    What Jon said. The modern convention is to distinguish x-rays from gamma rays by their origin, not their energy. However, astronomy & astrophysics still tend to use the older convention based on energy (or wavelength), so EM of >100 keV is called gamma rays. That's partly because it can be difficult to discover the mechanism of an astronomical EM source. – PM 2Ring Oct 16 '20 at 19:39