Henri becquerel contribution to physics. Henri Becquerel and the Discovery of Radioactivity 2023-01-01

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Henri Becquerel was a French physicist who made significant contributions to the field of physics, particularly in the area of radioactivity. His discovery of radioactivity, which he made in 1896, paved the way for the development of nuclear energy and the atomic bomb.

Becquerel was born in Paris in 1852 and was the son of Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel, a well-known scientist in his own right. He received his education at the École Polytechnique in Paris and later became a professor of physics at the Sorbonne.

Becquerel's interest in radioactivity began when he was studying the properties of phosphorescent materials, which are substances that emit light when exposed to certain types of radiation. In the course of his research, he stumbled upon a phenomenon that he could not explain: some phosphorescent materials continued to emit light even when they were not being exposed to any external source of radiation.

Intrigued by this mystery, Becquerel began to investigate further. He discovered that certain materials, such as uranium, emitted a type of radiation that he called "uranic rays." These rays were later found to be composed of subatomic particles, including protons and neutrons, that are emitted during the radioactive decay of certain elements.

Becquerel's discovery of radioactivity was groundbreaking and opened up a whole new field of study in physics. It also had significant practical applications, as it led to the development of nuclear power and the atomic bomb. Today, radioactivity is used in a variety of fields, including medicine, agriculture, and industry.

In recognition of his contributions to the field of physics, Becquerel was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. He died in Paris in 1908 at the age of 55.

Henri Becquerel (Contributor of The Astronomy Book)

henri becquerel contribution to physics

Radioactivity Reactivity is known as a phenomenon that occurs spontaneously when the nuclei of unstable atoms or nuclides disintegrate into a more stable one. Before the discovery of the phenomenon of radioactivity, he began his work studying the polarization of light through phosphorescence and the absorption of light through crystals. The result was the silhouette of the two coins on the photographic plate. He also received the following awards besides the Nobel Prize for Physics 1903 : Rumford Medal 1900 Helmholtz Medal 1901 Barnard Medal 1905 Toffie Medal 1908 Antoine Henri Becquerel 15 December 1852 — 25 August 1908 was a French physicist, Nobel laureate, and the discoverer of radioactivity along with In 1908, the year of his death, Becquerel was elected Permanent Secretary of the AcadĂ©mie des Sciences. However, because the phosphorescence of this type of crystal lasted no more than Yioo second after it was removed from light, Becquerel did not expect penetrating radiation from the crystal to affect this plate.

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Antoine Henri Becquerel Biography and Contributions To Physics

henri becquerel contribution to physics

Arthur Holly Compton, who shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1927 for his discovery of the eff
 Marie Curie , Curie, Marie Maria Sklodowska Curie, Marie Maria Sklodowska physics. One can repeat the same experiments placing a thin pane of glass between the phosphorescent substance and the paper, which excludes the possibility of chemical action due to vapors which might emanate from the substance when heated by the sun's rays. Henri Becquerel was a French scientist, physicist and one of the most important personalities in the history of radioactive research. He tested nonluminescent compounds of uranium and found that they emitted his penetrating rays. He had a keen interest in phosphorescence which dealt with the transformation of the colour of light after it is exposed to any particular body and he began his research in earnest pretty early.

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Henri Becquerel

henri becquerel contribution to physics

After developing the plate, Becquerel saw a shadow of the crystal, indicating that he had generated radiation like X-rays, which could penetrate through the human body. Of more importance, he had shown that the power of emitting penetrating rays was a particular property of uranium. Thus began the attempts to demonstrate his idea. His method was borrowed from AndrĂ© Debierne, who had found it effective with actinium. On 24 February 1896 he reported to the Academy that fluorescent crystals of potassium uranyl sulfate had exposed a photographic plate wrapped in black paper while they both lay for several hours in direct sunlight. He entered the École Polytechnique in 1872 and the École des Ponts et ChaussĂ©es in 1874.

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Henri Becquerel Biography

henri becquerel contribution to physics

And, while it is often stated in games of chance, "I'd rather be lucky than good," Becquerel was both lucky and good-his lifetime of preparation in the study of phosphorescence and phosphorescent materials, his expertise in the scientific method and in laboratory uses of photography, and a great innate curiosity equipped him to make one of the more amazing discoveries in the history of science. By 26 March 1900, Becquerel had duplicated those experiments for the radium radiation and had shown that it too consisted of negatively charged ions, moving at 1. Paris, France, 15 December 1852; d. These plates were capable of generating images when in contact with light and for this reason they were used by Becquerel in his discovery. At the same time, Becquerel continued his education and held a number of academic positions. Retrieved 17 April 2022.

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Henri Becquerel and the Discovery of Radioactivity

henri becquerel contribution to physics

In confirmation of this result, he found that earlier that spring, Crookes had succeeded, by more effective chemical procedures, in separating from uranium the photographically active radiation, which he now attributed to a substance provisionally named uranium X. Another discovery was the circumstance that the allegedly active substance in uranium, uranium X, lost its radiating ability in time, while the uranium, though inactive when freshly prepared, eventually regained its lost radioactivity. Instead the silhouettes appeared with great intensity. He was the son of Alexandre Edmond Becquerel and grandson of Antoine CĂ©sar Becquerel, also physicists. Virtual Museum of Science. He then studied the absorption of light in crystals 1886—1888 , particularly its dependence on the plane of polarization of the incident light and the direction of its propagation through the crystal.

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What was Henri becquerel contribution?

henri becquerel contribution to physics

When For his discovery of radioactivity, Becquerel shared the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics with the Curies; he was also honoured with other medals and memberships in foreign societies. Not phosphorescence Unaware of any of this, Becquerel nonetheless placed his potassium uranyl sulfate K 2UO 2 SO 4 2 compound onto photographic plates, covered the plates with black paper to protect them from light, and put them on the windowsill so that the uranium compound could absorb light and begin to glow. He died at the age of 55 in Le Croisic. Finally, he tried a disk of pure uranium metal and found that it produced penetrating radiation three to four times as intense as that he had first seen with potassium uranyl sulfate. Perhaps under the impulse of such a notion, Becquerel undertook to remove from uranium a magnetically deviable or beta radiation he had recently identified.

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Henri Becquerel and the Discovery of Radioactivity

henri becquerel contribution to physics

Retrieved 13 April 2018. As he expected, the rays from the phosphorescing uranyl sulfate penetrated the paper and exposed the photograph, and even penetrated metallic objects as well. Discoveries and contributions Prior to Henri Becquerel's encounter with radioactivity, Wilhelm RĂŽntgen, a German physicist, discovered electromagnetic radiation known as X-rays. Spontaneous radioactivity and other findings It is known as spontaneous reactivity because, unlike X-rays, these materials, such as uranium salts, do not need prior excitation to emit radiation but are natural. We now know that the uranium was emitting a wide range of energy besides X-rays, in a spontaneous process soon to become known as radioactivity. In this work he united two descriptive traditions, the magneto optics of his own experience and a line of qualitative studies of the discharge of electricity through gases. Retrieved 12 March 2018.


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The Nobel Prize in Physics 1903

henri becquerel contribution to physics

His own Academy of Sciences elected him its president and one of its permanent secretaries. The phenomenon itself shows that uranium salts are capable of converting gases into conductors when passing through them. In 1888 he acquired a doctorate in science and began to be a member of the French Academy of Sciences since 1889, which allowed his professional recognition and respect to increase. It is used in some pharmacological applications, many drugs such as aspirin, dopamine or morphine tend to have phosphorescent properties in their components. His greatest asset, however, was a strong, persistent power of critical afterthought.

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Henri Becquerel and Marie Curie contribution to radioactivity

henri becquerel contribution to physics

Photo plates It is a plate whose surface is composed of silver salts which have the particularity of being sensitive to light. Concepts related to Becquerel's works To understand Becquerel's work a little more, it is necessary to know some concepts related to his studies. The SI unit for radioactivity called the becquerel or Bq , which measures the amount of ionizing radiation that is released when an atom experiences radioactive decay, is also named after Becquerel. Both his father and grandfather were scientists, which is why it almost seemed like a natural progression for him to follow in their footsteps once he started attending his formal training in scientific studies at some of the best institutes in Paris. Becquerel had planned to confirm his previous results with similar experiments exposing his samples to sunlight. He tried other luminescent crystals and found that only those containing uranium emitted the penetrating radiation. This crystal had emitted its penetrating rays in the dark, so it was clear that this radiation was not connected with the phosphorescence of the crystal as he had assumed.

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Henri Becquerel: biography, discoveries, contributions

henri becquerel contribution to physics

Retrieved 13 April 2018. His first extensive investigations 1875—1882 dealt with the rotation of plane-polarized light by magnetic fields. Becquerel also carried out research on phosphorescence, spectroscopy and the absorption of light. Perhaps not as clearly as Röntgen's vacuum tube X-rays would have done, but a marvelous result nonetheless. On the other hand, his father, Alexander Edmond Becquerel, worked as a professor of Applied Physics and focused on solar radiation and phosphorescence. When developed, the plate would show a silhouette of the crystal.

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