X-ray findings
In 1895, German physicist W.C.RÖ ntgen used a sealed glass tube embedded with two metal electrodes (one called the anode and the other called the cathode) to study the gas discharge phenomenon in cathode ray tubes. He applied tens of thousands of volts of high voltage to both ends of the electrodes and used an air extractor to extract air from the glass tube. To block the leakage of light (a type of arc light) during high-voltage discharge, a layer of black cardboard is placed outside the glass tube. When he was conducting this experiment in the darkroom, he stumbled upon a piece of cardboard soaked in a solution of platinum barium cyanide emitting bright fluorescence two meters away from the glass tube. Further experiments showed that using cardboard, wooden boards, clothes, and a book about two thousand pages thick could not block this fluorescence. What's even more surprising is that when I reached for this fluorescent cardboard with my hand, I saw an image of my hand bone on the cardboard.
At that time, Roentgen believed that this was a type of radiation that was invisible to the human eye but could penetrate objects. Due to the inability to explain its principle and the uncertainty of its properties, it borrowed the mathematical representation of the unknown number "X" as the code name, known as "X-rays" (also known as X-rays or simply X-rays). This is the origin of the discovery and name of X-ray. This name has been used to this day. Later generations named it X-ray in memory of this great discovery.
The discovery of X-rays is of great significance in human history, opening up a new path for natural sciences and medicine. In 1901, Roentgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics.
Science is always evolving, and through repeated practice and research by Roentgen and scientists from various countries, the essence of X-rays has gradually been revealed, confirming that they are electromagnetic waves with extremely short wavelengths and high energy. Its wavelength is shorter than that of visible light (approximately 0.001-100nm, compared to X-ray wavelengths in medical applications ranging from 0.001 to 0.1nm), and its photon energy is tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of times greater than that of visible light. Therefore, X-rays not only have the general properties of visible light, but also have their own characteristics.
