Angstrom (disambiguation) facts for kids
Ångström (pronounced "ong-strom") is a word that can mean a few different things. It's often used to talk about a very tiny unit of measurement, but it's also the name of a famous scientist and even a place on the Moon!
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Anders Jonas Ångström: The Scientist
Anders Jonas Ångström was a very important Swedish scientist. He was born in 1814 and lived until 1874. He is most famous for his work in a field called spectroscopy.
What is Spectroscopy?
Spectroscopy is a way to study light and matter. Imagine you shine a light through a prism. The light splits into different colors, like a rainbow. This is called a spectrum. Scientists use spectroscopy to look at these spectra very closely. They can learn what things are made of by studying the light they give off or absorb.
Ångström's Discoveries
Ångström was one of the first people to study the spectrum of the Sun in detail. He found that certain elements, like hydrogen, left specific dark lines in the Sun's spectrum. These lines are like fingerprints for different elements. His careful maps of the Sun's spectrum were very important for understanding what stars are made of.
His work helped other scientists understand how light works and how we can use it to learn about the universe. He was a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden and a member of many important scientific groups.
The Ångström: A Tiny Unit of Length
Because of Anders Jonas Ångström's important work, a very small unit of length was named after him. This unit is called the ångström (sometimes spelled angstrom).
How Small is an Ångström?
An ångström is incredibly tiny! It is equal to 0.1 nanometer. To give you an idea:
- A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.
- So, an ångström is one ten-billionth of a meter!
Why Do We Use It?
Scientists use the ångström to measure things that are super small, like:
- The size of atoms
- The distance between atoms in molecules
- The wavelengths of light, especially X-rays
For example, the diameter of a single atom is usually a few ångströms. Visible light has wavelengths around 4,000 to 7,000 ångströms. It's a very useful unit for chemistry, physics, and biology when dealing with things on an atomic scale.
Ångström: A Lunar Crater
There is also a crater on the Moon named after Anders Jonas Ångström.
What is a Lunar Crater?
A lunar crater is a big, bowl-shaped hole on the Moon's surface. Most craters on the Moon were formed when asteroids or comets crashed into it a very long time ago.
Location of Ångström Crater
The Ångström crater is located in the northern part of the Moon. It's not a very large crater, but it's a way to honor the important contributions of Anders Jonas Ångström to science.
See also
In Spanish: Ångström (desambiguación) para niños
