N ray
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thumb|right|Fig. 6,7 from Prosper-René Blondlot: "Registration by Photography of the Action Produced by N Rays on a Small Electric Spark". Nancy, 1904. N-rays (or N rays) were a hypothesized form of radiation described by French physicist Prosper-René Blondlot in 1903. They were initially confirmed by others, but subsequently found to be illusory.
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- Blondlot N-rays.png
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- time of discovery or invention
- 1903-00-00
- Commons category
- N-rays
- native label
- rayons N
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~7 min read
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Background
- Discovery
- Response
- Significance
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|right|Fig. 6,7 from Prosper-René Blondlot: "Registration by Photography of the Action Produced by N Rays on a Small Electric Spark". Nancy, 1904. N-rays (or N rays) were a hypothesized form of radiation described by French physicist Prosper-René Blondlot in 1903. They were initially confirmed by others, but subsequently found to be illusory.
== Background == The N-ray affair occurred shortly after a series of major breakthroughs in experimental physics. Victor Schumann discovered vacuum ultraviolet radiation in 1893, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays in 1895, Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896, and, in 1897, J. J. Thomson discovered electrons, showing that they were the constituents of cathode rays. This created an expectation within the scientific community that other forms of radiation might be discovered.