[ RadSafe ] 10 rem from lightning??

[Jeff Terry]

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Begin forwarded message:

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>
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> From: Ted de Castro <tdc at xrayted.com>
> Date: March 30, 2010 12:28:13 PM CDT
> To: "Baumbaugh, Joel T CIV SPAWARSYSCEN-PACIFIC, 55430" <joel.baumbaugh at navy.mil 
> >
> Cc: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
> Subject: Re: 10 rem from lightning??
>
>
> No of course you do not need a vacuum for Bremsstrahlung - I didn't  
> say that.  I said you need the vacuum for the electrons to fall  
> through a potential unimpeded so that they may accumulate sufficient  
> kinetic energy to make Bremsstrahlung.  Like electric current  
> flowing through a resistor - the actual speed/drift of electrons is  
> very slow because of their interaction with matter.  Also - it  
> doesn't take much gas to poison an x-ray tube.
>
>
> On 3/30/2010 6:03 AM, Baumbaugh, Joel T CIV SPAWARSYSCEN-PACIFIC,  
> 55430 wrote:
>>
>> Of course you don't need a vacuum for Bremsstrahlung x-rays Ted...   
>> Whether its generated from the plasma or (I’m guessing) mostly  
>> Compton collisions w/air (elastic scattering w/molecular nitrogen)...
>>
>> Joel Baumbaugh
>> SSC-Pacific
>> San Diego, CA
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu 
>> ] On Behalf Of Ted de Castro
>> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 5:43 PM
>> To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
>> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] 10 rem from lightning??
>>
>> I think is it incredibly unlikely that you could get x-rays from  
>> lightning!
>>
>> You get x-rays from energetic x-rays striking a target and one way  
>> the
>> electrons get energetic is by "falling" through a potential IN  
>> VACUUM!
>>
>> When the electrons are conducted through a potential - even when the
>> conductor is a plasma - there is resistance that evenly distributes  
>> the
>> energy along the path of conductance and thus the electrons never  
>> reach
>> a very high energy.
>>
>> No vacuum - no x-rays.
>>
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