The atomic number of a nucleus is the number of protons contained in the nucleus.

Actinides are elements in the periodic table with an equal or higher atomic number than actinium, which has an atomic number of 89 and up to 103 lawrencium, including plutonium, curium, and californium). Actinides are also called 'rare earth metals'.
Actinides include most of the well-known elements found in nuclear reactions with atomic numbers higher than 92. These elements do not occur naturally but are produced by bombarding other elements with particles in an accelerator.

In radiology, the x-ray yield is the percentage of tube power transformed into radiation.
A high amount of the tube power is used to warm up the target. A higher tube voltage results in a linear increased x-ray yield. The transformation of tube power depends also on the atomic number of the target material. The higher the atomic number, the better the x-ray yield. Tungsten (the most common target material) in combination with a tube voltage of 100kv provides an x-ray yield of 0.7%.

Absorbers consist of material that stops ionizing radiation. For example, lead, steel and concrete attenuate x-rays. Alpha particles and most beta particles can be stopped or absorbed by a sheet of paper or thin metal.
The absorption depends on the atomic number, density, thickness, etc. of the used material.
The interactions between the radiation and the absorber are three major processes: photoelectric absorption, Compton scattering, and pair production.

See also Absorption.

An accelerator uses electrostatic or electromagnetic fields to increase the kinetic energy of charged particles (see alpha particle, beta particle) in order to produce ionization or a nuclear reaction in a target.
Accelerators (see cyclotron, linear accelerator) are used for the production of radionuclides (see Fluorine-18, Molybdenum, Technetium-99m) or directly for radiation therapy. Accelerator-produced radioactive material (ARM) is any radioactive substance that is produced by a particle accelerator. The accelerators used for radiation therapy generate gamma rays (also called Bremsstrahlung) with continuous energy by collision of high energy electrons on materials with high density (also referred as 'high z' - chemical elements with a high atomic number (Z)).
Electron accelerators with energies above 10 MeV can also produce neutrons induced by photons in the accelerator head material (mainly caused by photo nuclear reaction).