The X-Factor: The Mysterious Journey of ‘X-Ray’

[Marlin]

Most of my posts come from a suite of nuclear subject feeds to my inbox. Some come from other sources this one is from an unexpected source. Word*Genius is a feed that is a word of the day sort of self-improvement site, although I get half a dozen posts a day from them.

The X-Factor: The Mysterious Journey of 'X-Ray'

https://www.wordgenius.com/the-x-factor-the-mysterious-journey-of-x-ray/Y8lvKTB_8wAIvgDn

[Core Content]

Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered X-rays in 1895 while experimenting with cathode-ray tubes at Wuerzburg University. He named the radiation using the mathematical variable for an unknown quantity after observing its ability to penetrate human tissue while being blocked by bone and metal. This discovery established the foundation for modern radiography and radiology, which remain essential to medical diagnostics and industrial inspection processes.

Why do we call it the "x-ray"? Learn the story behind the discovery and naming of the mysterious X-ray.

One day in 1895, a physicist named Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen began fiddling with a cathode-ray tube in his laboratory at Wuerzburg University in Germany. The tube itself contained a glass bulb surrounded by positive and negative electrodes; when high voltage was applied, the tube produced a fluorescent glow. Intrigued, Roentgen covered the tube with heavy black paper and observed that crystals located near the tube emitted that same greenish fluorescent hue.

Read the full article at Word Genius:
https://www.wordgenius.com/the-x-factor-the-mysterious-journey-of-x-ray/Y8lvKTB_8wAIvgDn