How Does Lead Absorb Radiation Like X-rays and Gamma Rays?

The reason that lead is a good choice is because it’s a very dense substance, because dense substances can get in the way of the radiation and soak it up.  And the denser something is the more atoms, and in the case of things like x-rays and gamma rays the more electrons, there are to potentially interact with that ray as it goes through and stop it.

So, if you look at the density of lead; lead weighs something like 11 grams per centimeter cubed.  Iron, on the other hand, is only seven.  So in other words, you can get lots and lots of shielding with lead for much less space than if you use, say iron or concrete, which doesnt have the same density, although both could soak up x-rays in the same way.

However, as tungsten alloy material is more than 60% denser than lead, and it's not of any toxic, tungsten alloy material is widely used for shielding of X-rays and gamma rays. For more details, you could visit tungsten alloy radiation shielding.