How Did Roentgen's Experiment Led To The Discovery Of Fluorescence

Wilhelm Röntgen, a mechanical engineer and physicist in Germany on November 8, 1895 was working in a lab when he had saw some strange fluorescence coming from a table. On the table he found a tube covered in opaque black paper which he was using to study rays. He had concluded that the fluorescence that had gone through the opaque paper was caused by rays. Henri Becquerel used Roentgen's discovery of rays through the fluorescence some materials produce. Becquerel did a experiment surrounding several photographic plates with black paper and fluorescents he was going to leave the plates in the sunlight but due to an overcast in Paris he wrapped the plates and put them in a dark drawer. After he took it out he found that the salt had left very distinct outlines in photographic paper
These two experiments led to the discovery of radioactivity. Radioactive decay is the transformation of an unstable atomic nucleus into a lighter one where radiation is released in the form of alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays, which are the three types of radiation. Gamma rays are the most dangerous because they have no mass or charge so it can get through many substances. The only thing that it can not get through is lead or a brick wall. Alpha radiation is not very dangerous it can easily be stopped by a sheet of paper, it also has a mass and a positive charge. Beta radiation also is not as dangerous as gamma radiation. It has a mass and a negative charge and can be stopped by a thick wall or bricks.. Isotopes are two or more forms of the same element that have an equal number of protons but