X-ray Documented Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

X-ray Documented - Essay Example This means that materials science and engineering operates in a world characterized by high technological advances because technological advancements created from advanced materials. The significance of materials science and engineering started a long time ago. It has existed for many years. Nowadays, people only look at the names of eras and realize that materials have been helpful in the creation of civilization. These eras include the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. In fact, people have branded the current era as the material era because of the contribution that material engineering has provided. X-rays use materials that are provided by the technology in material science and engineering. The history of the development of science and technology has always been directly linked to the progress of materials science and engineering. In recent times, the expansion of concentration in the surface qualities of solids has become a feature of this field of knowledge. Neverthele ss, it is not surprising that interactions with material are realized through the free surface of the materials. Surface layers can unfalteringly control the application of the whole quantity of material. The free surface is essential for a large amount of material and mechanical features of materials that include yield strength, proportionality limit and material behavior in processes of fragile and low energy fracture (Sham 1012). The concept of X-rays was first discovered by a physicist from Germany called Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895. However, A.W. Goodspeed was the first person to make the X-ray discovery, on February 22, 1890. Because there was no information that could prove that he had discovered X-ray, Goodspeed named his discovery an accident and did not take any credit for the work he had done (Dyson 1). In the discovery, Wilhelm enclosed a glass tube inside of a black paper box. He attached a wiring that ran inside the glass tube that resembled the inside of a light bulb. Th is enabled the electrical currents to build up in the glass tube. He then connected the tube to an induction coil apparatus that allowed an electric current to pass through the tube. This way, a faint green colored light could be seen across the room. He decided to do this in a different way to be sure of what he had seen. He lit a match stick and discovered that there was a small screen in the room which was coated with a chemical. The lighting from the match stick sent the current along the tube. This made the exact same light to appear again. As he continued with his experiments, he discovered that these rays could penetrate through objects, such as wood and metal. Accidentally, his hand came in contact with the tube one day, and saw shadows of his hand with darker shadows that represented the bones. When he moved his hand, the shadow on the screen also moved. He named the shadow the first x-ray picture (Lewin, Paradijs and Heuvel 373). X-ray works in a unique way. As the wavelen gths of light diminish, they augment in terms of the energy that is produced. X-rays have lesser wavelengths, which cause higher energy compared to ultraviolet waves. This is the reason as to why professionals consider X-rays with respect to the energy they produce rather than their wavelength. This is partly because X-rays have minute wavelengths. Another reason is because X-ray light works like particles as opposed to waves. X-ray detectors gather definite photons of X-ray light that are remarkably different from the radio telescopes that contain large tableware designed to focus radio waves. When an X-ray of a person’s body is done in a hospital, professionals put X-ray sensitive films on one side of the patient’