Question

Some television tubes are CRTs. They use an approximately 30-kV accelerating potential to send electrons to the screen, where the electrons stimulate phosphors to emit the light that forms the pictures we watch. Would you expect x rays also to be created?

Answer 1

Older CRT televisions accelerate electrons using high voltages, which can generate low levels of X-rays when these electrons collide with the screen's material. These X-rays were typically shielded to protect viewers, and modern televisions do not produce X-rays as they use different technologies.

Step-by-step explanation:

When discussing whether X-rays are also created by cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in television sets, one must understand the process of electron acceleration and its interactions with matter. With an approximately 30-kV accelerating potential, the electrons in a CRT move with sufficient energy to excite phosphors on the screen, producing visible light for the image. However, when electrons are accelerated to high speeds and suddenly decelerate upon colliding with the screen's material, X-rays can be generated, a phenomenon known as Bremsstrahlung. Indeed, older CRT televisions could emit low levels of X-rays, but these were typically shielded to prevent exposure to viewers. Today's televisions rely on different technologies such as LCDs and LEDs, which do not accelerate electrons and thus do not produce X-rays.