Answer to Question #280600 in Atomic and Nuclear Physics for BIGIRMANA Elie

Question

An X-ray line of wavelength 0.53832A0 is found to be emitted from an X− ray tube with (Z= 30) target in addition to the characteristic Kα line of Zinc of wavelength 1.43603A0 . If the unkown line is due to an impurity in the target, obtain the atomic number of the impurity.

Answer 1

$\frac{\lambda_1}{\lambda_2}=\frac{z_2^2}{z_1^2},$

$z_2=z_1\sqrt{\frac{\lambda_1}{\lambda_2}}=18.$