According to the inverse square law, if the SID is doubled, how will the intensity of the x-rays change?

The inverse square law states that the intensity of radiation is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that radiation. In the context of x-rays, if you double the source-to-image distance (SID), the law dictates that the intensity of the x-rays will decrease as follows:

When the SID is doubled, the distance from the source to the receptor increases by a factor of two. According to the inverse square law, the intensity of the x-rays will decrease to one-fourth of its original value. This is because the intensity decreases by a factor equal to the square of the distance change; thus, (2^2 = 4).

Therefore, when the SID is increased from a certain distance to double that distance, the x-ray intensity at the receptor will indeed drop to one-fourth of the original intensity, demonstrating the critical principles of radiation physics and safety in medical imaging.