Hello! My name is Penny! I love Science! Today I really want to learn about the X-Ray machine! Do you want to help me?

To help your new friend Penny learn about X-Rays and start your magnificent journey into the world of science, continue to the next page!

I am so excited that you want to help me learn about X-rays! But I don't even know where to begin! Hmm... maybe we should start at the year that the x-ray was invented! Sound like a plan?

To travel with Penny back in time to the invention of the X-Ray, turn the page! Let the fun begin!

Before we can discover what an X-ray is, we should meet the inventor who made it!

WAIT!

Wilhelm Roentgen

Wilhelm Roentgen was a German physicist credited with the invention of the X-ray. The X-ray was invented in 1895. That was a long time ago! Sadly, Wilhelm is no longer alive because he was born in 1845, 175 years ago!

Wow! Nice to meet you Mr. Wilhelm Roentgen! Now that we have made our introductions, I want to know...what exactly is an x-ray is! So, what is it?

To help Penny learn what an x-ray is continue to the next page, let's go on an x-ray adventure!

What exactly is an X-Ray?

The X-Ray was a world-changing invention of the Victorian era, and is still very much in use today, over 100 years after it was invented. Some may say it was the most important invention in the medical field! The X-Ray is a machine that can see your bones! Doctors use it to see what is wrong with you and to figure out how they can help you.

That is truly interesting! But how is it possible that a machine like an X-ray can see my bones?I bet you were wondering the same thing!

If you are like Penny and want to know how it is possible that an X-ray can see through your skin, continue to the next page to resume your x-ray adventure!

How is it possible that an X-Ray can see my bones?

The x-ray is able to work due to a passing of electromagnetic energy through conductors known as cathodes and anodes. Cathodes are negatively charged and anodes are positively charged. Since we know that opposites attract, cathodes and anodes pull towards each other in. In 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen was experimenting with this type of electricity.

Okay, but how does this energy somehow turn into a picture of my bones? It can't just be that simple!

According to Wonderopolis, “The electrons also ran into the glass of the tube and two special parts of the tube called the cathode and anode. What Roentgen didn’t know was that, when these fast-paced electrons bumped into the tube’s anode, they would send off a type of light that hadn’t yet been discovered. This type of light is called an x-ray.” But how can doctors see your bones? X-ray light can go through skin and other soft tissue but can't do through dense things like bones, so they show up on a picture.

Oh I understand now! The X-ray isn't really the name of the machine, it is the type of the light the machine uses!

But that makes me wonder, what was life like before the X-ray? How did doctors know what was wrong if they couldn't take a picture?

If you were wondering the same thing, turn the page and find out!

Life's Hard! What was life like before the X-Ray?

The invention of the X-ray changed the world forever. When the X-ray was introduced doctors no longer had to guess about what was causing problems for a patient, they could just take a picture and find out!

The invention of the X-Ray has saved the lives of many people since it was first introduced in the medical field. According to Alexa Stanfield, before X-rays, doctors performed unnecessary and dangerous surgeries to try and find out what was wrong with a patient. Many people died from infections caused by these surgeries that were performed on them. (“Daily Life in the 1800's Prior to the Invention of the X Ray.”)

One example of the x-ray saving lives is through the story of our past presidents, Ronald Reagan (pictured below on the left) and James Garfield (pictured below on the right), according to Richard Gunderman, “US President James Garfield died in 1881 largely because his doctors could not locate an assassin’s bullet in his body, while a century later, X-rays revealed the bullet in President Ronald Reagan’s chest in minutes, helping to save his life.” (“On the 120th Anniversary of the X-Ray, a Look at How It Changed Our View of the World.”)

Why did the world need X-Rays?

X-rays changed the way people visit the doctor, if people were feeling anything out of the ordinary, they could get a painless scan to find out what was wrong. It needed to be invented because it gave the world an easier and safer way to diagnose and treat sickness (“Daily Life in the 1800's Prior to the Invention of the X Ray.”). The X-ray was used to look inside the human body without having to cut it open, this is one of its many uses today (“The First X-Ray, 1895.”).

That is very interesting! Life must've been hard when doctors couldn't even tell you what was wrong with you! Now we know why the world needed it, how it works, what life was like before it and who invented it! But that makes me wonder... what happened after it was invented?

if you, like Penny, want to know what the world was like after the invention of the X-Ray, continue to the next page!

WAIT!

A quick fact that you need to know about X-Rays is that they give off radiation! Radiation can be harmful to people in large amounts and can even cause cancer. Sadly, when the X-Ray was invented people didn't know how scary radiation could be. Many people became injured from the radiation but X-Rays are much safer today.

How Did the X-Ray change the world?

According to Hannah Waters,“Within a year, the first radiology department opened in a Glasgow hospital, and the department head produced the first pictures of a kidney stone and a penny lodged in a child’s throat” ("The First X-Ray, 1895").

After the invention of the X-Ray it made it much easier to find cancerous tumors in patients, it was later even discovered that the radiation from the X-Ray could also help in harming the cancerous cells ( “On the 120th Anniversary of the X-Ray, a Look at How It Changed Our View of the World.”)