DENJIRO: You may get an Xray image taken at a hospital. An Xray is a type of radiation that can be used to look inside your body. Today, we’re going to recreate an Xray examination. I’m going to use this apparatus here. In order to apply a high voltage to this lightbulb, I’ve connected electrodes on either end of it. This aluminum wrapper has instant camera film inside it. Let me place it under the lightbulb. I’m going to place an envelope on top of it. Let me turn the electricity on and have it run through the lightbulb.
The Xray image is done. I’m going to put the film in an instant camera and develop it. The camera has a cover on the lens, so nothing should appear on the photo.
BOY: The photo shows something.
DENJIRO: All the developed photos show an X. Actually, the envelope contained an X made of lead, and that’s what showed in the photos. Let me explain how this works. The electrode on the filament is negative, and the electrode on the tip of the lightbulb is positive. Electrons jump out and move to the opposite side in the vacuum lightbulb. When the accelerating electron suddenly stops, Xrays are released.
Xrays penetrate paper and thin aluminum but not lead. Since only parts of the film that were hit by Xrays become a lighter color, we see shadows of the lead. Xray imaging uses the Xray’s powerful penetrating power to look inside the body.
NARRATOR: Xrays were discovered by German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895. He was the recipient of the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. Radiation is used for many things in our daily lives, and Xrays are used in the medical field for detecting illness and injury.
DENJIRO: I hope energy will bring you all happiness. Our magic word is "Happy Energy!"