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Classical explanation:
When electrons moving at high velocities reach the anti cathode, they are subjected to strong electrostatic forces arising mainly from the nuclei of the constituent atoms.
The electron is strongly accelerated and according to classical theory of radiation “the electrostatic changes emit electromagnetic waves and the greater the acceleration, the higher their frequency.
It is the sudden slowing down of the electrons when they penetrate the anticathode, which is responsible for the continuous spectrum; this may be described as deacceleration radiation but often the German term Bremsstrahlung is used.
Quantum explanation:
This problem can be treated as elastic collision between an incident electron collision between an incident electron and a stationary target nucleus, in which part of kinetic energy of the electron is transferred into kinetic energy of photon.
The energy of the projectile is much smaller than the rest energy of the target nucleus and as always the target nucleus takes up momentum but receives hardly any energy.
Maximum energy electron can provide is its entire maximum kinetic energy .so,
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