X-ray image has amazing properties and is actively used in medicine. Using a special device, doctors can see the bones in the human body, diagnose problems and other abnormalities.
X-rays are used not only by doctors, but also by scientists who, with its help, can see the structure of a certain material. However, this device does not always help. For example, an X-ray diamond is not visible for at least two reasons.
How do x-rays take?
Before answering why the diamond is not visible on x-rays, you should first understand the principle of operation of the device. At the beginning, the device undergoes a thorough adjustment, during which the working density of objects through which rays will pass is set. Then, in a collision with denser substances, the x-ray radiation will stop, and a white area will appear on the image.
It must be understood that by density is meant not strength, but the concentration of charges of an atom, its charge. That is, a certain soft and fragile object will be more noticeable on X-ray than a stone if it has a higher concentration of atoms.
This principle is well traced on the use of the x-ray apparatus in medicine. When a patient is taken a picture, the device is tuned to the density of soft tissues. The rays pass through them, but stop when they meet the bones, since those have a higher nuclear charge.Therefore, in the image, the skeleton is clearly highlighted in white, and the muscles are barely noticeable.
Now, knowing the principle of operation of the X-ray apparatus, two main reasons can be identified why the diamond is not visible in its photographs.
Customization Feature
Suppose an apparatus used by doctors is used to photograph a gemstone. It contains the appropriate settings that allow you to take pictures of the bones. Such a device is configured to work with fragile structures that do not have a high concentration of atoms and nuclear charges. These include soft tissues, consisting of nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. All four substances can not boast of high density, so the rays pass through them without encountering any obstacles.
Now let's look at the chemical composition of diamond. It consists almost entirely of carbon, which also belongs to the soft tissue element and perfectly passes the x-ray through itself, without any delay.
Therefore, if you take a picture of a diamond with a device configured to work with human tissues and bones, it will not be visible due to the high concentration of carbon. Only a slightly noticeable gray area will appear on the image. This is the first reason why the gem is not displayed.
Diamond setting
Imagine that the engineers set up the x-ray machine at low densities, which are significantly lower than gemstones. Logically, it should now be perfectly visible in the picture. But the result will still be dubious.
During the creation process, the rays will linger on the surface, so the diamond will still appear in the picture. However, due to the homogeneous structure, it will look like an ordinary white spot in which nothing can be seen.
The only way to see something is to experiment with setting up the device so that the difference between the density of the substance and the working one is minimal. Then the roughness of the stone will be barely noticeable in the image: the parts closer to the apparatus will become more visible, but the overall picture will still resemble a homogeneous spot.
