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Charles Barkla Facts & Worksheets

Charles Glover Barkla FRS was a British physicist. He was also the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and related areas in the study of X-rays (Roentgen rays).

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Charles Glover Barkla FRS was a British physicist. He was also the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and related areas in the study of X-rays (Roentgen rays).

See the fact file below for more information on the Charles Barkla or alternatively, you can download our 20-page Charles Barkla worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

PERSONAL AND CAREER DETAILS

  • Barkla was born in Widnes, Lancashire, England on June 27, 1877.
  • His father was John Martin Barkla, a secretary for the Atlas Chemical Company.
  • His mother, Sarah Glover, was a daughter of a local watch manufacturer.
  • Barkla studied at a grammar school, the Liverpool Institute High School, where he won a scholarship to Liverpool University.
  • He then proceeded to Liverpool University, which was about 10 miles from his home, in 1895.
  • Barkla originally studied mathematics. However, he later specialized in physics under Sir Oliver Lodge.
  • In 1898, he graduated with a first-class honors degree in physics.
  • It was followed by a Master’s degree in physics in 1899.
  • In 1899 Barkla, at the age of 22, began his postgraduate work at the Trinity College, Cambridge, with an 1851 Research Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, to work in the Cavendish Laboratory.
  • His supervisor was J. J. Thomson (discoverer of the electron).
  • Throughout his first two years at Cambridge, Barkla would, under the supervision of Thomson, study the velocity of electromagnetic waves along wires of different widths and materials.
  • In 1902, Barkla began to work his Nobel Prize winning product at the Cavendish Laboratory. He finished it at Liverpool University, where he moved in 1903.
  • After being at Trinity College, and Cambridge for a year and a half, his passion for music led him to transfer to King’s College, Cambridge, in order to sing in their chapel choir.
  • His voice was of remarkable beauty and his solo performances would always be fully attended.
  • Barkla completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1903. Then in 1907, he completed his Master of Arts degree.
  • In the same year, 1907, he married Mary Esther Cowell with whom he would have two sons and one daughter.
  • In 1909, with the public recognition of his X-ray work’s importance, Barkla was designated as Wheatstone Professor of Physics at the University of London.
  • In 1913, after having worked at the Universities of Cambridge, Liverpool, and King’s College London, Barkla became a Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, a position that he carried until his death.
  • Barkla made important progress in developing as well as refining the laws of X-ray scattering, X-ray spectroscopy, the principles governing the transmission of X-rays through matter, and particularly the principles of the excitation of secondary X-rays.
  • In 1917, Barkla was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. He was additionally awarded the Hughes Medal of the British Royal Society that same year for his discovery of the characteristic X-rays of elements.
  • Barkla introduced the J-phenomenon as a hypothetical form of X-ray behavior related to X-ray fluorescence although other scientists were not persuaded that this was a different mechanism from other known effects such as Compton scattering, therefore the theory was not successful.
  • From 1922 to 1938 he lived at Hermitage of Braid in south-west Edinburgh.
  • He died at home in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, on October 23, 1944, at the age of 67.

PERSONAL CHARACTER

  • Barkla was a committed religious man – a Methodist. He considered his scientific work as part of his personal quest for God.
  • Barkla had an excellent bass singing voice. He used this to sing in the chapel choir at King’s College, Cambridge.

PUBLIC RECOGNITION

  • The lunar crater Barkla was named after Charles Barkla in honor of him.
  • A plaque exists on Barkla’s house at Hermitage of Braid in Edinburgh.
  • A commemorative plaque has been placed in the vicinity of the Canongate, at the University of Edinburgh, near the Faculty of Education Buildings.
  • And, a lecture theater at the University of Liverpool’s Physics Department, as well as a biophysics laboratory in the Biological Science Department, are named after him.

Charles Barkla Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Charles Barkla across 20 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Charles Barkla worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Charles Glover Barkla FRS who was a British physicist. He was also the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917 for his work in X-ray spectroscopy and related areas in the study of X-rays (Roentgen rays).

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Charles Barkla Facts 
  • Biographical Profile
  • History Timeline
  • Religion and Science
  • Academic Advisors
  • Sequencing Events
  • 1917 Novel Prize Award
  • X-ray Scattering
  • X-ray Spectroscopy
  • Song for Church
  • Commemorative Stamp

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