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Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Facts & Worksheets

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was a German mechanical engineer and physicist known for detecting electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays or Röntgen rays.

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Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was a German mechanical engineer and physicist known for detecting electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays or Röntgen rays.

See the fact file below for more information on the Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen or alternatively, you can download our 19-page Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Plan worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY

  • Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was born on March 27, 1845, in Lennep, which is located in the Lower Rhine Province of Germany.
  • Röntgen was the only child of Friedrich Conrad Röntgen, a German merchant and cloth manufacturer, and Charlotte Constanze Frowein, a member of an old Lennep family that had settled in Amsterdam.
  • Röntgen’s family moved to Apeldoorn in The Netherlands when he was three years old.

EDUCATION

  • Röntgen went to a boarding school, the Institute of Martinus Herman van Doorn.
  • There, his aptitude at making mechanical contrivances bloomed.
  • In 1862, Röntgen attended a technical school at Utrecht. He was accused of producing a caricature of one of their teachers, which resulted in him being expelled from the school.
  • In 1865, Röntgen tried to attend the University of Utrecht to study physics, but he could only attend it as a visitor because he did not have a high school diploma.
  • He later passed the entrance examination and entered the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, where he became a student of mechanical engineering.
  • In 1869, Röntgen graduated with a PhD from the University of Zurich.
  • He had become a favorite student of August Kundt, whom he followed to the University of Strasbourg.

CAREER

  • 1874 – Röntgen became a lecturer in Strasbourg University.
  • 1875 – Röntgen became a professor in the Academy of Agriculture at Hohenheim in Württemberg.
  • 1876 – Röntgen returned to Strasbourg as a professor in physics.
  • 1879 – Röntgen accepted the invitation to the position as chair of physics in the University of Giessen.
  • 1888 – Röntgen became the physics chair at the University of Würzburg.
  • 1900 – Röntgen became the physics chair at the University of Munich by special request of the Bavarian government.

SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS

  • Röntgen’s first published work was in 1870. His work dealt with the specific heats of gases.
  • A few years later, Röntgen published a paper on the thermal conductivity of crystals.
  • Röntgen studied the electrical and other characteristics of quartz, the influence of pressure on the refractive indices of various fluids, the modification of the planes of polarized light by electromagnetic influences, and the variations in the functions of the temperature. He also studied the compressibility of water and other fluids and the phenomena accompanying the spreading of oil drops on water.

X-rays

  • In 1895, Röntgen investigated the external effects from various types of vacuum tube equipment when an electrical discharge is passed through them. He conducted this research at his laboratory in the Würzburg Physical Institute of the University of Würzburg.
  • In early November of the same year, Röntgen repeated the experiment with one of Philipp von Lenard’s tubes, in which a thin aluminum window had been added to permit the cathode rays to exit the tube. A cardboard covering was also added to protect the aluminum from damage caused by the strong electrostatic field that produces the cathode rays.
  • 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 window.
  • On November 8, 1895, Röntgen constructed a black cardboard covering for the Crookes-Hittorf tube and attached electrodes to a Ruhmkorff coil to generate an electrostatic charge.
  • Röntgen darkened the room to test the opacity of the cardboard.
  • Röntgen then continued his experiment, and he noticed a faint shimmering from a bench a few feet away from the tube.
  • He temporarily named the new rays as “X-rays” using the mathematical designation “X” for something unknown.
  • Röntgen then brought a small piece of lead into position while a discharge was occurring. As a result, he saw the first radiographic image, his own flickering ghostly skeleton on the barium platinocyanide screen.
  • About six weeks later, Röntgen took a picture of his wife’s hand using “X-rays.”
  • He later took a picture of his friend Albert von Kölliker’s hand and showed it during a public lecture.
  • A collection of his papers is held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.
  • He died on February 10, 1923, from carcinoma of the intestine, also known as colorectal cancer.

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen across 19 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen who was a German mechanical engineer and physicist known for detecting electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays or Röntgen rays.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Facts
  • Röntgen Who?
  • Test Yourself!
  • Life Journey
  • The Element
  • What Are They?
  • Know X-rays
  • Bala-balance
  • Story Time
  • Your Own Hand
  • Letter To Röntgen

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