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I was blown away by the abundance of good info here, and I thought maybe you could help me out with this query. I am in the process of developing a product, and I need to find a clear plastic resin (visually clear) that is also transparent to x-rays (medical application). The only only other characteristic that I need is durability (scratch-resitant). Any advice?

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Hi Neil! I appreciate your enthusiasm for the site, but this isn't a question about physics, at least not the way you've phrased it in the question body - physics isn't about helping you find a specific material you're looking for. On the other hand, the question in your title (why certain plastics are X-ray transparent) would be a great physics question. Feel free to ask that separately if you'd like (just make sure the body matches the title!). – David Zaslavsky♦ Jun 13 '11 at 20:01
Also, we want our questions and answers to stay here on the site where everyone can benefit from them, not to be discussed privately, so I removed your email address. Our Physics Chat room is somewhat less controlled, so you could ask there and see if anyone can recommend a material for you. – David Zaslavsky♦ Jun 13 '11 at 20:04
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Note that essentially all plastics are transparent in the X-ray band---they are disordered, low density, low $A$ materials, which are all the desirable properties for this purpose. For visual transparency acrylics are always worth a look, though there are some limits on mechanical stresses and restrictions on the exposure to organic solvents under which they will retain that transparency. – dmckee♦ Jun 13 '11 at 20:31

closed as off topic by David Zaslavsky♦ Jun 13 '11 at 19:57

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