"X-rays" are also "roentgen rays". Modern medicine uses them to see through the human body or take pictures of the human body to show the structure of bones or internal organs, find abnormalities, and facilitate treatment. Before the discovery of "roentgen rays", doctors always relied on asking, listening, looking, and taking impressions to treat patients. But there are many causes of diseases that occur in the internal organs and cannot be touched or seen. Of course, it is difficult to carry out targeted treatment. Since the discovery of "roentgen rays", doctors have been given a pair of eyes that can see through the human body. This is indeed a great leap forward in medicine.
Who discovered this precious ray? It was the German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen. One day in 1895, when Roentgen was experimenting with a cathode ray discharge tube, he accidentally placed a package of unexposed photographic films sealed in black paper near the discharge tube. Later, when he developed the film, he found that it had run out. For a casual person, he would say: "Everyone ran away this time, just be more careful next time!" But Roentgen was not like this. He had a serious habit of tracing the source. He did not miss this clue and continued to experiment. He was surprised to find that even if a piece of cardboard was used to cover the sealed photographic film, it would still run out. He concluded that the cathode ray discharge tube somehow emits a powerful radiation that can penetrate materials like cardboard. Then he experimented repeatedly, and finally discovered that this strange ray could penetrate people's clothes, skin, flesh, and bones. He named this kind of ray "X-ray", which means unknown ray. The properties of this ray are similar to light waves. Later, in order to commemorate Roentgen's great contribution, people also called "X-rays" "Roentgen rays".