Pjkt2501
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2011
- Messages
- 2,879
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_spectroscopy
No wonder these "terrorist checkpoints" they are setting up to sniff and X-ray trucks have been popping up. Evidently they can detect and analyze what substance(s) are hidden beneath a surface
I often wondered when I went through an "immigration" checkpoint where they had a sniffer dog, they X-rayed the car but how do they know whether the hidden cargo is what they are looking for or something else entirely? Seems like they have something that detects certain particles in the X-ray...
Very interesting, hi-tech!
Different compounds with different, specific (every element reacts in its own way) densities can be detected pretty easily via x-ray transmission. It's like pinging a computer: certain ones have certain addresses, and you'll get a response if you ping the "right" one. Different elements also vibrate at different rates, which can also be detected / measured for ID purposes.
It's a bit more complicated with drugs, given the chemical structures of them, but once the "code is cracked" so to speak, the language doesn't change for that compound. It is what it is.
Hence why climbing chalk (Magnesium Carbonate) wasn't blinked at, but cocaine obviously pulls suspicion.
