[ RadSafe ] 10 rem from lightning?? (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Dan]

Dear group:

This is a very interesting subject. By chance, does this mean that I  
was getting a significant dose of xrays while in proximity to my old  
500KV van de graff generator while I was a kid?

Dan ii

Dan W McCarn
HotGreenChile at gmail.com
+1-505-310-3922
Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 30, 2010, at 10:29 PM, Jeff Terry <terryj at iit.edu> wrote:

>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>>
>> From: "Borisky, Michael (Civ, ARL/ADLO)"  
>> <michael.borisky at us.army.mil>
>> Date: March 30, 2010 10:12:14 AM CDT
>> To: "Baumbaugh, Joel T CIV SPAWARSYSCEN-PACIFIC,55430" <joel.baumbaugh at navy.mil 
>> >, "Ted de Castro" <tdc at xrayted.com>, <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
>> Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] 10 rem from lightning?? (UNCLASSIFIED)
>>
>>
>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>> Caveats: NONE
>>
>> I thought that the only way electrons could reach relativistic  
>> speeds was in
>> the presence of a vacuum.  And I thought that relativistic speeds are
>> necessary to generate brem.
>>
>> Mike Borisky
>> ARL Radiation Safety
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
>> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of  
>> Baumbaugh, Joel T
>> CIV SPAWARSYSCEN-PACIFIC,55430
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 9:04 AM
>> To: Ted de Castro; radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
>> Subject: [ RadSafe ] 10 rem from lightning??
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>>
>> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and  
>> understood the
>> RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
>> http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html
>>
>> For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other  
>> settings visit:
>> http://health.phys.iit.edu
>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>> Caveats: NONE
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>
> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and  
> understood the RadSafe rules. These can be found at: http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html
>
> For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other  
> settings visit: http://health.phys.iit.edu