Henri Becquerel

1. Henri Becquerel By: Hannah Schultz and Grace Quinlan

2. His Personal Background • Henri Becquerel was born in Paris on December 15th, 1852. • He died on August 25th, 1908. • His early education was completed at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and he graduated in 1872. • Later on he enrolled at the Ecole Polytechnique, then two years later he went to the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées. • In 1877 Henri got his engineering degree. Then he accepted a job at the National Administration of Bridges and Highways. • In 1874 he married Lucie-Zoé-Marie Jamin. She died in 1878 after they had a child named Jean.

3. Summary of Scientific Research and Interests • Becquerel became interested in X-rays and thought that they might be produced by fluorescent substances • He decided to investigate whether there was any connection between X-rays and naturally occurring phosphorescence. • He found out that there was an unknown energy that was emitted from uranium salts. He put a rock and a wrapped photographic plate in his desk drawer and found that the plate, even though no light had touched it, developed patterns which would show exposure • Discovered that uranium was radioactive • He later died in 1908 and left his work to other scientists such as Marie Curie

4. How He Affected the Structure of the Atom • Henri Becquerel discovered radiation. • If he never found out that atoms could be radioactive, then the whole structure of the atom would be different. • The structure would not include alpha, beta, and gamma particles in it. After Before

5. How the Discovery Affected the Study of the Atom • The discovery of radioactivity lead to: • The discovery of the radioactivity of thorium • The new elements Polonium and Radium • The identification of alpha and beta radiation • The discovery of isotopes • The Rutherford nuclear theory of the atom • The Bohr theory of the atom • The disintegration of Nitrogen atoms • The discovery of artificial radioactivity • The discovery of nuclear fission

6. Citations • http://www.scientific-web.com/en/Physics/Biographies/HenriBecquerel01.htmlPicture of Henri Becquerel • http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=BIC1&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CK2641910009&mode=view Article "Antoine-Henri Becquerel." World of Earth Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 7 Oct. 2011. • "Antoine-Henri Becquerel." World of Physics. Gale, 2006. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 7 Oct. 2011.http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=BIC1&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CK2434100014&mode=view • Henri Becquerel Biography. (1903). Retrieved from Elsevier Publishing Company website: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/becquerel-bio.html • Newbold, B. T. (1996). The Discovery of Radioactivity and its Aftermath. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA18754273&v=2.1&u=22512&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w • Picture of Uranium http://www.eoearth.org/article/Uranium?topic=49557 • Before picture of structure of the atom http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/21st_century_science/lectures/lec11.html • After picture of the structure of the atom http://reich-chemistry.wikispaces.com/Schouler • Picture of his experiment http://www.uwec.edu/boulteje/Boulter103Notes/16September.htm