HLTH204: Radiographic Physics and Protection
Radiation Physics Module

Macquarie University 2008

This module runs from weeks 2-4 of the second semester and covers the physics behind the generation and production of x rays and their interaction with matter.

Lecturer

You are welcome to set up an appointment by email or phone to discuss any aspect of the module. I prefer not to explain complex physics by email as it's not efficient.

Lectures

Text

Lecture topics

Week 2 chapters 6,7,8	Introduction. From electricity to x-rays. Electricity and magnetism. Electrical materials; charges; Coulomb's law; charges on bodies; methods of charging; electric fields; magnetism; magnetic fields and forces. Electric currents. Currents; voltage; resistance; Ohm's law; ac and dc current; power; electromagnetism; induced currents; transformers; generators; motors; rectification.
Week 3 chapters 9,10	X-ray circuits. Single-phase and three-phase circuits; high-voltage circuits; high-voltage transformers and rectifiers; high-frequency circuits; ripple. X-ray tubes. Tube housing and envelope; cathode; tube and filament currents; anode; line focus principle; heel effect; off-focus radiation; focal spot blooming; heat limit curves; tube life and warm-up.
Week 4 chapters 5,12,13	Electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetic spectrum; frequency, wavelength and energy; photons; period and amplitude; inverse square law. Production of x rays. Bremsstrahlung; x-ray spectra; characteristic x-rays; beam quality and quantity; dependence of spectrum on anode material, kVp, mA, and wave form; filtration. X-ray interactions with matter. Attenuation; coherent (Thompson) scattering; photoelectric effect; Compton scattering; pair production; photonuclear disintegration.

 

The overall course outline (ie not just this module) and notes are available on the Dept of H&C web page (requires id and password).

Assessment

Assignment	Set: Friday 22 August Due: 5pm Wednesday 3 September	5%
Labs	Attend 3 weeks (as rostered) in E7B 217	15%
Midterm	Friday 12 September 2pm C5C T1	20%

The assignment is available here.

The model answers are available here (pdf).

Example Midterm (pdf), from 2003. You will be getting a midterm like this. But this isn't it!

An overview of the labs (pdf) is available. You are required to attend 3 weeks of labs in E7B 217 as rostered during Weeks 3-11. The lab rosters and the experiment notes are available from the Dept of H&C web pages.

Other Important Information

Plagiarism

"Plagiarism involves using the work of another person and presenting it as one's own. Any of the following acts constitutes plagiarism unless the source of each quotation or piece of borrowed material is clearly acknowledged:

• copying out part(s) of any document or audio-visual material (including computer-based material);
• using or extracting another person's concepts, experimental results, or conclusions;
• summarising another person's work;
• in an assignment where there was collaborative preparatory work, submitting substantially the same final version of any material as another student.

A general discussion of plagiarism, definitions, examples, procedures that will be followed by the University in cases of plagiarism, and recommended penalties are available from the MQnU website at http://www.student.mq.edu.au/plagiarism/. The University expects students to familiarise themselves with the website.