X-ray

On January 5, 1896, many X-ray photos were displayed at the Berlin Physical Society Conference. On the same day, Vienna's "Press" also reported the discovery of X-rays. This great discovery immediately attracted great attention and quickly spread around the world. In a few months, hundreds of scientists investigated this, and thousands of papers on X-rays were published within a year.

The X-rays were discovered by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen while conducting an experiment. Roentgen was born in Rennep, Germany in 1845. In 1869, he received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Zurich. Over the next 19 years, he worked in many universities and won the reputation of an outstanding scientist. Since 1888, Roentgen has served as professor and dean of the School of Physics at the University of Welzburg.

On November 8, 1895, as usual, Roentgen went into the laboratory after lunch and fiddled with the most peculiar optical instrument of the time-the vacuum "Crookes-Hittoff tube." In the evening, when he connected the power to the tube wrapped in black paper again to study the cathode rays it produced, he accidentally discovered a bright light on the stool about two meters away. It turned out that there was a piece of cardboard coated with barium platinum cyanide (a fluorescent substance) for other experiments. He thought it was very strange. What caused the originally non-glowing cardboard to glow? He keenly speculated that it was likely that something "from the tube reached the cardboard and made the platinum cyanide barium glow, but it would not be a cathode ray because it could only penetrate a few centimeters of air. So he turned off the power, and the light disappeared. This was repeated several times, confirming his guess. Due to the uncertainty of the nature of the "thing" emitted by the tube, Rontgen named this phenomenon "X-ray"-X is an unknown symbol commonly used in mathematics. On January 23, 1896, Professor Krieker at the University of Wildsburg called "X-rays""Roentgen rays." Thus was a discovery that changed the face of the world.

Inspired by this accidental discovery, Roentgen put down other research projects and concentrated on investigating the properties of X-rays. After research, he found that X-rays can make many substances glow; X-rays can penetrate opaque substances. He particularly noticed that X-rays can penetrate through his body, but are only blocked by bones. He placed his hand on the cathode ray tube and the fluorescent screen. Between the screen, the shadow of the hand bone can be seen on the fluorescent screen; X-rays are straight lines, which are different from charged particle beams and are not refracted by magnetic fields... Finally, Roentgen achieved 9 important properties of X-ray with superb experimental skills. It can be seen that Roentgen did not become a giant who discovered X-rays just by looking in the direction of fluorescent cardboard, but relied on his keen observation, scientific foresight, accurate judgment, and superb experimental power to become an outstanding scientist. When the first Nobel Prize in Physics was selected in 1901, 17 of the 29 recommendation letters recommended him. Roentgen eventually won the first Nobel Prize in Physics.

In 1923, Roentgen died of illness in Munich, Germany at the age of 78.