Who discovered electromagnetic radiation commonly known as X-Rays?

• A. Wilhelm Roentgen
• B. Marie Curie
• C. Henri Becquerel
• D. Pierre Curie

Answer: (A)

X-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895 while he was experimenting with a sealed tube that produced cathode rays. He noticed a fluorescent screen near the tube glowing even though the tube wasn’t directly visible, which showed there was another kind of radiation traveling through space. This new radiation could pass through soft tissues and create shadows of dense materials like bone, making it possible to image the inside of the body. He named these unknown rays X-rays and quickly demonstrated their medical use by taking the first radiograph—a photo of his wife’s hand showing bones and a wedding ring. This landmark discovery earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. While Becquerel and the Curies made crucial contributions to radioactivity, their work focused on radioactive decay, not X-rays.