Chapter 3

Passage of Radiation
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Through Matter
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3.1 From Fig. 3.5 we notice that the logarithm of the energy loss, dE/dx, is
approximately a straight line for the range of kinetic energy required. That
is, dE/dx satisfies a power law. A reasonable fit for Pb is:
−dE/(ρ dx)(MeV cm2 /g) = 1.15 p−1.39 (p in GeV/c)
= 89.5 E −0.694 (E in MeV).
For C, we have approximately
−dE/(ρ dx)(MeV cm2 /g) = 212 E −0.757 (E in MeV).
If dE/d(ρ x) = −CE −a , then the thickness, L, required to achieve a loss of
energy from Ei to Ef is
 Ei  Ei
−1
Eia+1 − Efa+1
L= dE/|dE/d(ρ x)| = C E a dE =
Ef Ef C(a + 1)
1
For Pb, we obtain L = 89.5×1.69 (1001.694 − 501.694 ) = 11.1 g/cm2 ; for C, we
find L = 6.17 g/cm2 . Because the density of Pb is 11 g/cm3 , and that of C is
2.25 g/cm3 , we obtain L(Pb) ≈ 1 cm and L(C) = 2.74 cm.

3.3 Nuclear interactions become important when the kinetic energy of the particle
(in the c.m. system) is higher than the Coulomb barrier of the nucleus, so
that nuclear reactions can occur with ease.

3.5 dE/dx is approximately constant, dE/d(ρ x) ≈ −1.3 × 10−3 GeV cm2 /g; if
3
we use a density of about 7.5 g/cm (somewhat less than iron), dE/dx ≈
−10−2 GeV/cm or 103 GeV/km. Thus, we require E
1 TeV. Cosmic-ray
protons or pions are not observed because their ranges are much shorter due
to their strong nuclear interactions.

6
 Chapter 3. Passage of Radiation Through Matter 7

3
3.8 dE/d(ρ x) = −1.6 MeV cm2 /g or −1.6 MeV cm2 /g × 8.9 g/cm =
−14.2 MeV/cm. 1 mA ≡ 10−3 A/(1.6 × 10−19 C/proton) = 6.25 ×
1015 protons/s. Thus, d2 E/dxdt = −14.2 MeV/cm × 6.25 × 1015 /s =
8.9 × 1016 MeV/(cm s). The maximum energy deposited per second is then
approximately 1017 MeV/s.
To compute the temperature rise, we require the specific heat; for Cu it
is cT = 0.39 Joule/(g K); hence T = Heat/(m cT ) = 1017 MeV/s 1.6 ×
10−13 Joule/MeV/(8.9 g × 0.39 Joule/(g K)) = 4.6 × 103 K.
3.10 (a) To zeroth order, we need (zp /vp ) = (zα /vα ), or vp = vα /2. Therefore, the
approximate kinetic energy of the proton beam that has the same energy
loss is Ep ≈ Eα /4 × mp /mα ≈ Ep /16 = 12.5 MeV. We can do better by
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now using this energy (or the equivalent proton velocity) in the formula
 
dE Z z 2 c2 2me v 2 v2
− =C ρ ln −
dx A v2 I(1 − v 2 /c2 ) c2
The constant C is C = (4πNA e4 )/(me c2 ) = 0.31 MeV cm2 /g; here NA
by WSPC on 01/31/13. For personal use only.

is Avogadro’s number, and ρ, Z, and A refer to the Cu target. For a

√
200 MeV alpha particle, pα = 2mα Eα = 1225 MeV/c, and vα /c =
0.326. For the proton vp /c is thus approximately given by 0.326/2 =
0.163. Since the ln varies slowly and the last term is small, we now use

of vp /c in the brace (logarithm and last term); we then obtain
this value
vp /c = 4.38/5.8 × .163 = 0.142 and Ep (proton) = 9.4 MeV.
(b) The value of I is approximately given by 16Z 0.9 ≈ 331 eV. Thus, we
obtain
 2  
1 dE MeV cm2 29 2 1.022 × 106 (0.33)2
− = 0.307 ln − (0.33)2
ρ dx g 63 0.33 331(1 − (0.33)2 )
≈ 31 MeV cm2 /g
3
The energy loss is 31 MeV cm2 /g; the density of Cu is 8.9 g/cm ; thus,
the energy loss is 276 MeV/cm, and in 1 mm it is 27.6 MeV.
3.13 N (x) = N (0)e−µx = 10−4 . Therefore µx = ln(104) = 9.2. For Pb and a
photon energy of 2me c2 , µ = 0.75/cm, so that x = 9.21/0.75 = 12.3 cm.
3.18 The energy of the electrons is below the critical energy. The range in Cu for a
1 MeV electron is 0.526–0.094 = 0.432 g/cm2 . The density of Al is 2.7 g/cm3 ,
2 3
so that the thickness of the absorber should be 0.432 g/cm /(2.7 g/cm ) =
0.16 cm.
3.21 The energy of the electron is above the critical value. The energy E =
E0 e−x/X . For X0 = 9 cm and x = 1 cm, we have E = 10e−1/9 = 8.95 GeV. The
energy lost is therefore 1.05 GeV.
3.23 See problem 6.5.