a) The company that built the x-ray machine placed an aluminium filter in the device. What is the purpose of an Aluminium filter and describe (i) how this affects the X Ray spectrum (ii) the dose received by the patient (iii) the effect on the image formed. b) compare the similarities and differences of an traditional x-ray machine with a C.T scanner

The aluminum filter in a X-ray production machine is used to redirect waves and orient them all in one particular direction. The electron network of metal is very good at polarizing radiation. If an x-ray enters at an angle, it is reflected off the surface instead of allowed to pass through. If it comes in at the appropriate angle (typically perpendicular to the aluminum foil), it can pass directly through without issue. This ensures that there is no interference from weakly interacting, improperly oriented x-rays. This serves to improve efficiency and mitigate unwanted cellular damage from extra x-rays.Aluminum is an excellent allow for this because it is extremely cheap and abundant, and it is very lightweight for transport.The production of x-rays differs from other methods because a radioactive sample directly produces an array of particles which are filtered out and directed. CT-scans are inherently pointed directly at the affected area, and other technologies like MRI’s use the oscillation of a magnetic field to map an area in detail.