Wilhelm Röntgen

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (March 27, 1845 – February 10, 1923) was a German physicist, of the University of Würzburg, who, on November 8, 1895, produced wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation that are now known as x-rays or Röntgen Rays. The machine which Röntgen built to emit these rays, was the x-ray machine. Röntgen's name is usually given as Roentgen in English, therefore most scientific and medical references to him are found under this spelling. Wilhelm Röntgen larger, different image This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Wilhelm Röntgen larger, different image This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in Leap years). ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The willingness to question previously held truths and search for new answers resulted in a period of major scientific advancements, now known as the Scientific Revolution. ... The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. ... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... 1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a wave pattern. ... Electromagnetic radiation or EM radiation is a combination (cross product) of oscillating electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to each other, moving through space as a wave, effectively transporting energy and momentum. ... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... A machine is any mechanical or organic device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of tasks. ... Bertha Röntgens hand, one of the first x-rays The x-ray machine is a machine used to produce x-rays. ...

During 1895 Röntgen was using equipment developed by his colleagues Hertz, Hifforf, Crookes, and Lenard to explore the effects of high tension electrical discharges in evacuated glass tubes. By late 1895 these investigators were beginning to explore the properties of cathode rays outside the tubes. In early November Röntgen was repeating an experiment with one of Lenard's tubes in which a thin aluminum window had been added to permit the cathode rays to exit the tube but a cardboard covering was added to protect the aluminum from damage by the strong electrostatic field that is necessary to produce the cathode rays. He knew the cardboard covering prevented light from escaping, yet Röntgen observed that the invisible cathode rays caused a fluorescent effect on a small cardboard screen painted with barium platinocyanide when it was placed close to the aluminum window. It occured to Röntgen that the Hifforf-Crookes tube, which had a much thicker glass wall than the Lenard tube, might also cause this fluorescent effect.

In the late afternoon of November 8, 1895 he determined to test his idea. He carefully constructed a black cardboard covering similar to the one he had used on the Lenard tube. He covered the Hifforf-Crookes tube with the cardboard and attached electrodes to a Ruhmkorff coil to generate an electrostatic charge. Before setting up the barium platinocyanide screen to test his idea, Röntgen darkened the room to test the opacity of his cardboard cover. As he passed the Ruhmkorff coil charge through the tube, he determined that the cover was light-tight and turned to prepare the next step of the experiment. It was at this point that he noticed a faint shimmering from a bench a meter away from the tube. To be sure he tried several more discharges and saw the same shimmering each time. Striking a match, he discovered the shimmering had come from the location of the barium platinocyanide screen he had been intending to use next. November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... 1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Röntgen spent the next several hours repeating the experiment again and again. He quickly determined that the screen would fluoresce at a distance from the tube much greater than his previous tests. He speculated that a new kind of ray might be responsible. Novermber 8 was a Friday and Röntgen took advantage of the weekend to repeat his experiments and make his first notes. In the following weeks he ate and slept in his laboratory as he investigated nearly all the properties of the new rays he temporarily termed x-rays, using the mathematical designation for something unknown. Although the new rays would eventually come to bear his name when they became known as Röntgen Rays, he always preferred the term x-rays. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz...

Röntgen's discovery of x-rays was no accident and he was not working alone. With the investigations he and his colleagues in various countries were pursuing, the discovery was imminent. In fact, x-rays were produced and a film image recorded at the University of Pennsylvania two years earlier. However, the investigators did not realize the significance of their discovery, filed their film for further reference, and thereby lost the opportunity for recognition of one of the greatest physics discoveries of all time. The idea that he just happened to notife the barium platinocyanide screen totally misrepresents his investigative powers. He had planned to use the screen in the next step of his experiment and would have made the discovery at that point a few moments later.

At one point while he was investigating the ability of various materials to stop the rays, he brought a small piece of lead into position while a discharge was occuring. Imagine Röntgen's astonishment as he saw the first radiographic image, his own flickering ghostly skeleton on the barium platinocyanide screen. He later reported that it was at this point that he determined to continue his experiments in secrecy, because he feared for his professional reputation if his observations were in error.

Röntgen's original paper, "On A New Kind Of X-Rays," was published 50 days later on December 28, 1895. On January 5, 1896, an Austrian newspaper reported Röntgen's discovery of a new type of radiation. Röntgen was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine from University of Würzburg after his discovery. He published a total of 3 papers on x-rays between 1895 and 1897. His investigative powers were so phenomenal that none of his conclusions have yet been proven false. January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1896 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Radiation generally means the transmission of waves, objects or information from a source into a surrounding medium or destination. ... The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. ...

In 1901 Röntgen was awarded the very first Nobel Prize in Physics. The award was officially, in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently named after him. Röntgen donated the monetary reward from the prize to his university. Like Pierre Curie would do several years later he refused to take out any patents related to his discovery on moral grounds. He did not even want the rays to be named after him. (On November 2004 IUPAC named the element Roentgenium after him as well.) List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... Pierre Curie (May 15, 1859 – April 19, 1906) was a pioneer in the study of crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity and radioactivity. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of an invention. ... The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to the advancement of chemistry. ... Known properties Name, Symbol, Number roentgenium, Rg, 111 Chemical series Transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 7, d Appearance unknown; probably metallic, silvery white or gray Atomic weight From [272] amu to [280] amu Electron configuration probably [Rn]5f14 6d10 7s1 e- s per energy level 2, 8, 18, 32...

Education

He was born in Lennep (now a part of Remscheid), Germany, to a clothmaker. His family moved to Apeldoorn in the Netherlands when he was three years old. He received his early education at the Institute of Martinus Herman van Doorn. He later attended Utrecht Technical School, from which he was expelled for producing a caricature of one of the teachers, a "crime" he claimed not to have committed. Remscheid is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Remscheid is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... A variety of fabric. ... Apeldoorn is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands. ...

In 1865, he attended the University of Utrecht. He then began to attend the Polytechnic at Zurich to study mechanical engineering. In 1869, he graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich. 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ... Utrecht University (Universiteit Utrecht in Dutch) is a university in Utrecht, The Netherlands. ... ETH Zurich (from its German name Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, ETHZ) is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, Switzerland. ... The Ford Essex V6 engine Mechanical engineering is the application of physical principles to the creation of useful devices, objects and machines. ... 1869 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ... The University of Zurich (in German: Universität Zürich) is the largest university of Switzerland. ...

Career

In 1867 he became a lecturer at Strasbourg University and in 1871 became a professor at the Academy of Agriculture at Hohenheim, Württemberg. In 1876, he returned to Strasbourg as a professor of Physics and in 1879, he became the Chair of the physics department at the University of Giessen. In 1888, he became the physics chair at the University of Würzburg and in 1900 he became the physics chair at the University of Munich, by special request of the Bavarian government. Röntgen had family in the United States (in Iowa) and at one time he planned to emmigrate. Although he accepted an appointment at Columbia University in New York City and had actually purchased transatlantic tickets, the outbreak of World War I changed his plans and he remained in Munich for the rest of his career. Röntgen died in 1923 of carcinoma of the bowel. It is not believed his carcinoma was a result of his work with ionizing radiation because his investigations were only for a short time and he was one of the few pioneers in the field who used protective lead shields routinely. 1867 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The University Palace in Strasbourg, and a monument to one of the universitys students, Johann Wolfgang Goethe The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is divided into three separate institutions. ... 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A professor is a senior teacher, lecturer and researcher, usually in a college or university. ... Württemberg (often spelled Wurttemberg in English) refers to an area and a former state in Swabia, a region in south-western Germany. ... 1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... 1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... A chairman is the presiding officer of a meeting, organization, committee, or other deliberative body. ... The University of Gießen (Giessen), officially called Justus Liebig-Universität Gießen after its most famous member, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertilizer. ... 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... With approximately 48,000 students, the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (German: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München or LMU) is one of the largest universities in Germany. ... With an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ...

See also: Hertz, Heinrich Rudolf Heinrich Hertz Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (February 22, 1857 - January 1, 1894), was the German physicist for whom the hertz, the SI unit of frequency, is named. ...

External link

• Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen (http://www.nobel-winners.com/Physics/wilhelm_conrad_rontgen.html)
• The New Marvel in Photography (http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/6/6/14663/14663-h/14663-h.htm#page403), an article on and interview with Röntgen, in McClure's magazine, Vol. 6, No. 5, April, 1896, from Project Gutenberg