DISCOVERING THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

How do you discover light that your eyes can't see? Serendipity. In the year 1800, Sir William Herschel was exploring
the question of how much heat was contained by the different colors of visible light. He devised and experiment where
he used a glass prism to separate sunlight into it's rainbow of colors. Then, he placed a thermometer under each color,
with one extra thermometer just beyond the red light of the spectrum. He found that the thermometer that was
seemingly out of the light had the highest temperature. Thus, he discovered infrared light.

A year later, Johann Wilhelm Ritter was inspired by Herschel's discovery to see if there might be light just beyond the
purple end of the spectrum. Indeed, there was, and Ritter discovered ultraviolet
light.
In 1867, James Clerk Maxwell predicted that there should be light with even
longer wavelengths than infrared light.
In 1887 Heinrich Hertz demonstrated the use the existence of the waves predicted
by Maxwell by producing microwaves & radio waves in his laboratory. It took a bit longer for scientists to discover the
higher-energy (shorter wavelength) light in the electromagnetic spectrum.

X-rays were first observed and documented in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, a German scientist who found them
quite by accident when experimenting with vacuum tubes. A week after he first observed them, he took an X-ray
photograph of his wife's hand, which clearly revealed her wedding ring and her bones. The photograph electrified the
general public and aroused great scientific interest in the new form of radiation. Röntgen called it "X" to indicate it was
an unknown type of radiation. The name stuck, although many of his colleagues suggested calling them Röntgen rays.
While Röntgen first observed the effects of X-rays in 1895, it wasn't until 1912 that scientists were able to conclude that they were,
indeed, another form of light."
Gamma-rays were first observed in 1900 by Paul Villard when he was investigating radiation from radium.
A few years later, Ernest Rutherford proposed the name "gamma- rays," for this new radiation, and the
name stuck. Like X-rays, the exact nature of gamma-rays took a little while for scientists to work out. In
1914, when Rutherford observed that they could be reflected off the layers of a crystal, it was clear that
they were akin to X-rays (in other words another form of light), but with much shorter wavelengths.

DISCOVERING THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

How do you discover light that your eyes can't see? Serendipity. In the year 1800, Sir William Herschel was exploring
the question of how much heat was contained by the different colors of visible light. He devised and experiment where
he used a glass prism to separate sunlight into it's rainbow of colors. Then, he placed a thermometer under each color,
with one extra thermometer just beyond the red light of the spectrum. He found that the thermometer that was
seemingly out of the light had the highest temperature. Thus, he discovered infrared light.

A year later, Johann Wilhelm Ritter was inspired by Herschel's discovery to see if there might be light just beyond the
purple end of the spectrum. Indeed, there was, and Ritter discovered ultraviolet
light.
In 1867, James Clerk Maxwell predicted that there should be light with even
longer wavelengths than infrared light. He then discover microwaves.
In 1887 Heinrich Hertz demonstrated the use the existence of the waves predicted
by Maxwell by producing radio waves in his laboratory. It took a bit longer for scientists to discover the higher-energy
(shorter wavelength) light in the electromagnetic spectrum.

X-rays were first observed and documented in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, a German scientist who found them
quite by accident when experimenting with vacuum tubes. A week after he first observed them, he took an X-ray
photograph of his wife's hand, which clearly revealed her wedding ring and her bones. The photograph electrified the
general public and aroused great scientific interest in the new form of radiation. Röntgen called it "X" to indicate it was
an unknown type of radiation. The name stuck, although many of his colleagues suggested calling them Röntgen rays.
While Röntgen first observed the effects of X-rays in 1895, it wasn't until 1912 that scientists were able to conclude that they were,
indeed, another form of light."
Gamma-rays were first observed in 1900 by Paul Villard when he was investigating radiation from radium.
A few years later, Ernest Rutherford proposed the name "gamma-rays," for this new radiation, and the
name stuck. Like X-rays, the exact nature of gamma-rays took a little while for scientists to work out. In
1914, when Rutherford observed that they could be reflected off the layers of a crystal, it was clear that
they were akin to X-rays (in other words another form of light), but with much shorter wavelengths.
Procedure: I. Match the scientists given below with their contributions.

A B

_______1. He discovered X-Rays A. Ernest Rutherford

_______2. He discovered Infrared B. Willliam Herschel
_______3. He gave the name Gamma Rays C. Johann Wilhelm Ritter
_______4. He discovered Ultra Violet rays D. James Clerk Maxwell
_______5. He discovered Radiowaves E. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen
_______6. He discovered Microwaves F. Paul Villard
_______7. He discovered Gamma Rays G. Heinrich Hertz

II. Using the information you gathered previously, make a concept web/comic strips of the contributions of the following scientists.

Ernest Rutherford Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen Johann Wilhelm Ritter James Clerk Maxwell
Willliam Herschel Paul Villard Heinrich Hertz

Guide Questions:
Q1. What new insights/learning did you get about our natural world? How did it change your view about light?

Procedure: I. Match the scientists given below with their contributions.

A B

_______1. He discovered X-Rays A. Ernest Rutherford

_______2. He discovered Infrared B. Willliam Herschel
_______3. He gave the name Gamma Rays C. Johann Wilhelm Ritter
_______4. He discovered Ultra Violet rays D. James Clerk Maxwell
_______5. He discovered Radiowaves E. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen
_______6. He discovered Microwaves F. Paul Villard
_______7. He discovered Gamma Rays G. Heinrich Hertz

II. Using the information you gathered previously, make a concept web/comic strips of the contributions of the following scientists.

Ernest Rutherford Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen Johann Wilhelm Ritter James Clerk Maxwell
Willliam Herschel Paul Villard Heinrich Hertz

Guide Questions:
Q1. What new insights/learning did you get about our natural world? How did it change your view about light?

Procedure: I. Match the scientists given below with their contributions.

A B

_______1. He discovered X-Rays A. Ernest Rutherford

_______2. He discovered Infrared B. Willliam Herschel
_______3. He gave the name Gamma Rays C. Johann Wilhelm Ritter
_______4. He discovered Ultra Violet rays D. James Clerk Maxwell
_______5. He discovered Radiowaves E. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen
_______6. He discovered Microwaves F. Paul Villard
_______7. He discovered Gamma Rays G. Heinrich Hertz

II. Using the information you gathered previously, make a concept web/comic strips of the contributions of the following scientists.

Ernest Rutherford Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen Johann Wilhelm Ritter James Clerk Maxwell
Willliam Herschel Paul Villard Heinrich Hertz

Guide Questions:
Q1. What new insights/learning did you get about our natural world? How did it change your view about light?