Chapter 268 Experimental Results

Today, scientists have a very superficial understanding of radioactive materials. They often conduct various experiments using radioactive materials as raw materials without any precautions.

When Mary first discovered radium, it was crazily sought after by society because of its magical power to destroy cancer cells.

At that time, radium was called "angel rays", "God's light", and "the hope for marital harmony". For men, it could improve their thinking ability, relieve stress, refresh their minds, and strengthen their sexual function; for women, it could beautify their skin, rejuvenate them, and whiten their skin.

According to the propaganda at the time, there was nothing that radium could not do, otherwise why it was called "angel rays".

The most typical one is radium water. Simply put, it is a jar. Throw radium into it and pour water. The next day, the water inside will have powerful health benefits, which can refresh the mind and beautify the skin...

There were also radium toothpaste, radium chocolate, and radium children's toys, which in later generations had to be marked as dangerous with black and yellow signs, but they were actually displayed on supermarket shelves openly for people to pick and buy at will.

Now perhaps only Zhang Xingjiu knows the dangers of these things, but he has no way to persuade the Curies, because to convince them he must reveal the dangers of radioactive substances, and this will inevitably promote the development of nuclear physics, a price that Zhang Xingjiu cannot afford.

He could only keep himself away from these hazards, and at most give them some advice on diet on nutritional grounds, hoping to reduce the harm they suffered.

It was still early for their experimental project to start, and Zhang Xingjiu was not in a hurry to refuse. He estimated that by then he would have had a certain reputation in the physics community and would have his own research projects to do, so the Curies would be embarrassed to disturb him.

After a period of running-in, the experimental team composed of Zhang Xingjiu and Lang Zhiwan could finally start formal experiments. At the beginning, the experiment was not smooth. They measured the thermal radiation of various solids, and the results were in good agreement with Wien's formula.

At this time, a new paper came from Germany. German physicist Paschen conducted a similar experiment. He measured the thermal radiation of various objects within a certain range, and the experimental results also conformed to Wien's formula.

Pierre comforted them, "Most of the time, physical experiments don't produce results that surprise us, and most of our work in the laboratory is useless. But it is not meaningless. Whether proving a law is accurate or not, it is valuable."

"Also, there are some differences between your experiment and Paschen's. If you organize the data carefully, draw charts, and write an article, I can help you submit it to the Acta Physica Sinica. It's great that your first experimental design can be published in the Acta Physica Sinica."

Nowadays, scholars from various countries still give priority to submitting manuscripts to their own domestic journals. The Journal of Physics was founded by Charles Dalmeida in 1872 and has a great influence in the French physics community.

"I still want to keep trying, because the scope of our experiment with Pasing is still too narrow. The temperature of the heated object is not high enough, and the data collected are mostly short-wave radiation, with very little long-wave data." Zhang Xingjiu was not discouraged at all, nor was he in a hurry, because he knew where the exact answer was.

"Okay, collect more data to make the article more convincing. I think Mr. Lippmann will not blame you for wasting money when he sees your current achievements." Pierre generously allowed them to continue the experiment.

Anyway, this experiment doesn't require too much expenditure, and the consumables used are not valuable. It is already a good deal to be able to exchange it for an article in "Acta Physica Sinica". It doesn't matter if I let them do a few more experiments.

At a party at Zhang Xingjiu's apartment in the evening, he proposed a new experimental plan with a glass of red wine in hand, "Maybe we can raise the temperature of the black body a little bit higher, such as 1000K?"

K is the temperature unit proposed by Lord Kelvin, who had already built the edifice of physics. It takes absolute zero as the starting point of calculation, that is, -273.15℃ is equal to 0K, and 1000K is more than 700 degrees Celsius.

"This will definitely increase the cost of the experiment. Fuel also costs money, so it will reduce the number of our experiments. In Professor Curie's mind, there must be a total budget for our experiments." Lang Zhiwan hesitated slightly.

"But if we conduct the experiment according to the previous method, I'm afraid we won't be able to obtain new data. Only by increasing the temperature can we obtain a longer wavelength. There is no value in repeating meaningless experiments many times. The new experimental plan may be more expensive, but it may bring about a breakthrough." Zhang Xingjiu continued to persuade.

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Lang Zhiwan also accepted Zhang Xingjiu's idea.

They modified the experimental plan overnight and came to the laboratory the next day. They immediately raised the temperature of the black body according to the plan. The data detected at the beginning was not much different from before and still conformed to the description of the Wenn equation.

However, when the temperature exceeded 1000K, the situation gradually changed, and deviations began to appear between the experimental data and the theory.

The two of them were immediately excited and quickly reported the good news to Pierre. Pierre was equally excited, "This shows that Wien's formula may be wrong. You need more data to confirm this conclusion!"

"But the budget for the experiment," Zhang Xingjiu reminded.

"Don't worry about the budget! Your new discovery is worth the additional money!" Pierre didn't care about this little money. There was competition among universities, and the focus of the competition was who could make more breakthroughs. Now Zhang Xingjiu and his team were just one step away from success, so how could Pierre be reluctant to spend this little money?

"You guys continue with the experiment, I will go and report to Professor Lippmann." After saying this, he turned and left the laboratory. Such an important discovery must be made known to Professor Lippmann, who is now the head of the Physics Department.

Just as Zhang Xingjiu and Lang Zhiwan came up with a new set of data, Professor Lippmann arrived. He took over the experimental results and substituted the data into Wien's formula. The results were indeed very different.

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The experimental results show that the energy density should be proportional to the absolute temperature in the long-wave range, rather than being independent of temperature as Wien predicted when the wavelength tends to infinity.

"The Germans are wrong." Professor Lippmann was very excited.

When Lippmann was young, he personally experienced the humiliation of Prussian King William I being crowned emperor in the Palace of Versailles in France. Although the war is over now, he has never had a good impression of the Germans. Now that his students have overturned the German theory, it is naturally worth celebrating.

"Continue to collect more data, make sure to write an irrefutable paper, and then publish it in Nature!" Professor Lippmann felt that since the Germans had been proven wrong, scholars from more countries should know about it.

Tomorrow's update may be late 　　 　 (end of this chapter)