What is the term used to describe the reduction of radiation intensity as it passes through matter?

The term that describes the reduction of radiation intensity as it passes through matter is attenuation. This phenomenon occurs because, as radiation interacts with material, a portion of its energy is absorbed or scattered, resulting in a decrease in intensity.

Attenuation is a crucial concept in radiology because it affects how images are produced and the quality of the diagnostic information that can be obtained from various tissues. Different materials attenuate radiation to varying degrees, which allows for the differentiation of structures in imaging techniques such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRI, ultimately providing clearer diagnostic images.

In this context, exposure refers to the amount of radiation in the environment, not how its intensity changes as it passes through matter. Absorption specifically pertains to the process by which energy is taken in by the material, but it does not encompass the entirety of the interaction involved in intensity reduction. Scattering involves the deflection of radiation in different directions as it encounters matter, which is just one aspect of what happens to the radiation during its passage through a material but does not fully represent the overall reduction in intensity due to all forms of interaction.