X-rays and gamma rays are the highest-energy electromagnetic waves — they punch through skin and split atoms.
What lets an X-ray image your bones but not pass straight through everything equally?
The high-energy end
X-rays and gamma rays are the shortest-wavelength, highest-energy electromagnetic waves. The rough split: X-rays come from electrons (or X-ray tubes); gamma rays come from the nucleus itself, in radioactive decay.
These photons are ionising — energetic enough to knock electrons off atoms and damage DNA. Useful in tiny, shielded doses; dangerous in large ones.
Medical X-rays and CT scans, airport security, cancer radiotherapy, sterilising medical equipment, and astronomy of black holes and supernovae all live at this end of the spectrum.
Used for medical imaging (X-rays) and cancer treatment (gamma rays).