A method and apparatus employed in an X-ray apparatus for compensating for attenuation caused by a subject to perform an improved X-ray exposure. A table is created comprising entries accessible via power and attenuation values. Each of the entries includes a first value T representing a time for radiation in the system to reach a base ion count, and a second value C representing an offset ion count from the base ion count. A first set of entries in the table are referenced using a first power setting, and a first base ion count is determined based upon the first power setting, and a maximum radiation exposure is determined for the first power setting and a subject's mass. Then, an X-ray emitter is activated until a current ion count from a radiation sampling means has exceeded the base ion count or total radiation emitted has exceeded the maximum radiation allowed for the given mass of a subject. If the current radiation has exceeded the maximum radiation, then the X-ray emitter is deactivated and the process terminates. If the current ion count from the radiation sampling means has exceeded the base ion count, then it is determined whether the base ion count has been offset. If so, then the X-ray emitter is deactivated and the process terminates. If the base ion count has not been offset, then a matching entry is determined from the first set of entries which has the first value T less than or equal to the current exposure. Then, the second value C of the matching entry is added to the base ion count, and the process is repeated until the above conditions are matched.