AbstractThe shape of the continuous spectrum between 0.5 and 10 keV generated by 10 to 25 keV electrons has been calculated. It is shown that Kramers' law underestimates the intensity generated at low X‐ray energies. However, this is partially compensated by the greater absorption suffered by continuum X‐rays compared with characteristic X‐rays, which is demonstrated by comparing the depth distributions derived from Monte‐Carlo calculations. Refinement of the background correction in energy‐dispersive microprobe analysis in the light of these results is desirable, though for most purposes the method based on Kramers' law corrected for absorption by the conventional means used for characteristic radiation is