A darkened area on an exposed and processed film is described as:

• A. Contrast
• B. Density
• C. Exposure
• D. Latent image

Answer: (B)

Density is the darkness or blackness of the film on a radiograph. It describes how dark a specific area appears after exposure and processing—the result of how much radiation reached the film and how the developer converted that exposure into visible blackening. The more exposure and appropriate development, the higher the density, and thus the darker the area.

Contrast, by contrast, is about the difference in density between adjacent areas, i.e., how sharply one area stands out from another, not the darkness of a single region.

Exposure refers to the amount of radiation reaching the film during imaging; it influences density but isn’t itself the visible characteristic you label a darkened patch.

A latent image is the invisible pattern formed on the film during exposure, which only becomes visible as density after processing.