K-alpha emission is composed of two spectral lines, K-alpha1 and K-alpha2 (see figure to the right). The K-alpha1 emission is higher in energy and thus has a lower wavelength than the K-alpha2 emission. A larger number of electrons follow the K-alpha1 transition (L3 → K) relative to the K-alpha2 (L2 → K) transition which causes the K-alpha1 emission to be more intense than K-alpha2. For all elements, the ratio of the intensities of K-alpha1 and K-alpha2 is very close to 2:1. K-alpha1 and K-alpha2 are close enough in wavelength that an average of the two wavelengths, K-alpha, is used in x-ray diffractometry without separation by a monochromator, which would cause a significant loss in the intensity of the incident beam.