This table gives mass attenuation coefficients for photons for elements of Z = 1 to 100 at energies between 1 keV (soft x-rays) and 1 GeV (hard gamma rays). The mass attenuation coefficient µ describes the attenuation of electromagnetic radiation as it passes through matter by the relation
I(x)/Io = e–μρx
where Io is the initial intensity, I(x) the intensity after path length x, and ρ is the mass density of the element in question. To a high approximation, the mass attenuation coefficient is additive for the elements present, independent of the way in which they are bound in chemical compounds. Therefore, these data can be used to calculate the shielding against x-rays and gamma rays provided by materials of known elemental composition and density.
Tables 1-4 give the attenuation coefficients for elements with atomic number 1–100. The power of ten is indicated beside each number in the table; i.e., 7.41 + 03 means 7.41 × 103. Plots of attenuation coefficient vs. energy (see Ref. 4) show a smooth decline with increasing energy until an absorption edge is reached, where the attenuation coefficient increases sharply and then continues to decline. Thus, interpolation is unreliable when the interval includes an absorption edge. Absorption edge energies are listed in Table 5.
Column definitions for Tables 1-4 are as follows.
Column heading | Definition |
Element | Elemental symbol |
Z |
Atomic number of element |
μ(0.001 MeV), μ(0.002 MeV) | Mass attenuation coefficient for the element, in cm2 g-1 at energy specified within parentheses |
The attenuation coefficients were calculated with the computer program XCOM (Refs. 1 and 3), which uses a cross-section database compiled at the Photon and Charged Particle Data Center at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Their accuracy has been confirmed at all energies by extensive comparisons with experimental attenuation coefficients. Such comparisons for x-ray energies up to 100 keV can be found in Ref. 2.
Element | Z | μ(0.001 MeV)/cm2 g-1 | μ(0.002 MeV)/cm2 g-1 | μ(0.005 MeV)/cm2 g-1 | μ(0.01 MeV)/cm2 g-1 | μ(0.02 MeV)/cm2 g-1 | μ(0.05 MeV)/cm2 g-1 | μ(0.1 MeV)/cm2 g-1 | μ(0.2 MeV)/cm2 g-1 | μ(0.5 MeV)/cm2 g-1 |
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H | 1 | 7.21 + 00 | 1.06 + 00 | 4.19-01 | 3.85-01 | 3.69-01 | 3.36-01 | 2.94-01 | 2.43-01 | 1.73-01 |
He | 2 | 6.08 + 01 | 6.86 + 00 | 5.77-01 | 2.48-01 | 1.96-01 | 1.70-01 | 1.49-01 | 1.22-01 | 8.71-02 |
Li | 3 | 2.34 + 02 | 2.71 + 01 | 1.62 + 00 | 3.40-01 | 1.86-01 | 1.49-01 | 1.29-01 | 1.06-01 | 7.53-02 |
Be | 4 | 6.04 + 02 | 7.47 + 01 | 4.37 + 00 | 6.47-01 | 2.25-01 | 1.55-01 | 1.33-01 | 1.09-01 | 7.74-02 |
B | 5 | 1.23 + 03 | 1.60 + 02 | 9.68 + 00 | 1.25 + 00 | 3.01-01 | 1.66-01 | 1.39-01 | 1.14-01 | 8.07-02 |
F | 6 | 2.21 + 03 | 3.03 + 02 | 1.91 + 01 | 2.37 + 00 | 4.42-01 | 1.87-01 | 1.51-01 | 1.23-01 | 8.72-02 |
N | 7 | 3.31 + 03 | 4.77 + 02 | 3.14 + 01 | 3.88 + 00 | 6.18-01 | 1.98-01 | 1.53-01 | 1.23-01 | 8.72-02 |
O | 8 | 4.59 + 03 | 6.95 + 02 | 4.79 + 01 | 5.95 + 00 | 8.65-01 | 2.13-01 | 1.55-01 | 1.24-01 | 8.73-02 |
F | 9 | 5.65 + 03 | 9.05 + 02 | 6.51 + 01 | 8.21 + 00 | 1.13 + 00 | 2.21-01 | 1.50-01 | 1.18-01 | 8.27-02 |
Ne | 10 | 7.41 + 03 | 1.24 + 03 | 9.34 + 01 | 1.20 + 01 | 1.61 + 00 | 2.58-01 | 1.60-01 | 1.24-01 | 8.66-02 |
Na | 11 | 6.54 + 02 | 1.52 + 03 | 1.19 + 02 | 1.56 + 01 | 2.06 + 00 | 2.80-01 | 1.59-01 | 1.20-01 | 8.37-02 |
Mg | 12 | 9.22 + 02 | 1.93 + 03 | 1.58 + 02 | 2.11 + 01 | 2.76 + 00 | 3.29-01 | 1.69-01 | 1.24-01 | 8.65-02 |
Al | 13 | 1.19 + 03 | 2.26 + 03 | 1.93 + 02 | 2.62 + 01 | 3.44 + 00 | 3.68-01 | 1.70-01 | 1.22-01 | 8.44-02 |
Si | 14 | 1.57 + 03 | 2.78 + 03 | 2.45 + 02 | 3.39 + 01 | 4.46 + 00 | 4.38-01 | 1.84-01 | 1.28-01 | 8.75-02 |
P | 15 | 1.91 + 03 | 3.02 + 02 | 2.86 + 02 | 4.04 + 01 | 5.35 + 00 | 4.92-01 | 1.87-01 | 1.25-01 | 8.51-02 |
S | 16 | 2.43 + 03 | 3.85 + 02 | 3.49 + 02 | 5.01 + 01 | 6.71 + 00 | 5.85-01 | 2.02-01 | 1.30-01 | 8.78-02 |
Cl | 17 | 2.83 + 03 | 4.52 + 02 | 3.90 + 02 | 5.73 + 01 | 7.74 + 00 | 6.48-01 | 2.05-01 | 1.27-01 | 8.45-02 |
Ar | 18 | 3.18 + 03 | 5.12 + 02 | 4.23 + 02 | 6.32 + 01 | 8.63 + 00 | 7.01-01 | 2.04-01 | 1.20-01 | 7.96-02 |
K | 19 | 4.06 + 03 | 6.59 + 02 | 5.19 + 02 | 7.91 + 01 | 1.09 + 01 | 8.68-01 | 2.34-01 | 1.32-01 | 8.60-02 |