X-Rays: The Camera That Sees Inside You
Imagine you fall off your bike and your wrist hurts. The doctor doesn't cut you open to look inside — she takes a special picture called an X-ray! In just a few seconds, that picture shows your bones glowing white, right through your skin.
What You'll Learn
1. What an X-ray picture actually shows 2. Why bones look white and skin looks see-through 3. How doctors use X-rays to help people 4. How to stay safe when an X-ray picture is taken
A Picture That Sees Through You
A long time ago, in 1895, a scientist named Wilhelm Rontgen was working in his lab in Germany. He noticed a strange kind of light that could pass right through things — even through his own hand! He named it "X" because it was a mystery. Today we call it an X-ray, and doctors all over the world use it every single day.
Why Bones Show Up White
X-rays are a bit like light, but much more powerful. They zoom right through soft parts of your body, like skin and muscle. But your bones are hard and thick, so the X-rays cannot get through them as easily. On the picture, the parts the X-rays could not pass through show up bright white — that's your bones!
When you get an X-ray, the technician may cover you with a heavy apron. It has lead inside, which blocks the X-rays from reaching the parts of your body that don't need a picture taken.
How Doctors Use the Picture
If a doctor thinks a bone might be broken or cracked, an X-ray shows exactly where. Dentists use small X-rays to check for cavities hiding between your teeth. Doctors even use X-rays to make sure a swallowed coin isn't stuck somewhere it shouldn't be!
Match each item to what it shows on an X-ray picture.
Terms
Definitions
Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.
Why do bones look white on an X-ray picture?
Who discovered X-rays in 1895?
Build a Bone Picture
Draw the outline of your own hand on paper. Inside the outline, draw your five finger bones and hand bones in white crayon, then color everything else around them dark gray or black — just like a real X-ray! Label two bones with their simple names (finger bone, wrist bone).
Flashcards — click each card to reveal the answer
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