Final answer:
A scattered x-ray beam has less intensity than the primary beam due to scattering and effects such as Compton scattering, where the intensity decreases with the square of distance and is influenced by material density and thickness.
Step-by-step explanation:
A scattered x-ray beam possesses less intensity than the primary beam. When a beam of monochromatic X-rays interacts with a crystal, the incident rays are diffused in multiple directions due to the atoms in the crystal. The scattered waves can undergo interference, combining to create patterns of increased or decreased intensity compared to the original beam, depending on how the peaks of these waves align. However, generally, because of this scattering and other effects such as the Compton effect, the overall intensity of the scattered x-ray beam reduces compared to the intensity of the primary beam. The significance of this is that intensity decreases with distance squared if radiation disperses uniformly in all directions, and numerous factors like the material's density and thickness affect the scattering intensity and attenuation of the x-ray beams.