X-rays are a form of invisible, high-frequency electromagnetic radiation. The wavelength
of x-rays is between 10 and 0.01 nanometers, corresponding to a
frequency of 30 PHz to 30 EHz. X-rays are very small and energetic.
They are produced by accelerating electrons at a metal target. X-rays
are used in various medical applications, especially for imaging.
X-rays were a hot topic for research in the late 19th century,
and various famous inventors worked on them, including Thomas Edison and
Nikola Tesla. Tesla was the first to inform the scientific community
of the biological hazards of x-rays. The biggest contributor to x-ray
research was Wilhelm Röntgen, who won the first Nobel Prize in Physics
for his work. Although the term "x-rays" was only meant to be a
placeholder, the name stuck, much to Röntgen's chagrin. In some
languages, x-rays are actually referred to as Röntgen rays. His
landmark paper in the field was titled "On a New Kind of Radiation."
Because
of the tiny wavelength of x-rays, they are useful for imaging small
structures, such as individual molecules. This research field is known
as x-ray crystallography, which was responsible for uncovering the
physical structure of DNA, among other achievements. Today it is frequently used to image the molecular structure of complex proteins.
No comments:
Post a Comment