Shot 22 / 7:34–7:42Select a shot, or shift-click to select multipleSelect a shot, or double-tap to select multiple

Taking the "X" out of X-Rays

9 min 14 sec25 shots

After a dramatized laboratory scene, the film says Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovered X-rays in Bavaria in 1895 and that doctors soon began using them. It explains that X-rays were named for the unknown and describes them as invisible electromagnetic radiation related to light, heat, and radio waves. Introduced as the developer of the 1913 hot-cathode X-ray tube, William D. Coolidge appears on screen and demonstrates the tube’s parts and operation.

Using the equipment, diagrams, and comparisons with light and a blowtorch, Coolidge explains how high voltage drives electrons from a heated tungsten filament toward a metal target, producing X-rays and considerable heat. He shows that X-rays can create images on photographic film or a fluorescent screen, and he compares an ordinary hand shadow with a radiograph that distinguishes bone from flesh. The closing explanation links this ability to pass through materials at different rates with the use of X-rays in medicine and industry.

Provenance and rights

Original producer: Unknown
Collection: Prelinger Archives
Original title: Taking the "X" out of X-Rays
Date: Unknown
Original link: Open on Internet Archive
Rights: public_domain