C.V. Raman
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was born on November 7, 1888 in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. He is one of the most renowned scientists in Indian history. Raman was the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize; his prize was awarded in 1930 for his studies in the field of light. His revolutionary findings on light and its properties came to be known as the "Raman Effect."
As a child, Raman was intelligent, sincere, and hard-working. After passing high school with flying colors, he decided to pursue higher studies in physics from a foreign university. However, on seeing his physical examination results, a surgeon advised him against foreign travel. Therefore, he remained in India and completed his master's degree in physics in 1907. He would spend hours conducting experiments on light. His colleagues knew him as a person who was totally devoted to research and experiments in the field of physics. He would spend all his free time in laboratories.
Raman was curious about everything. While traveling by ship in 1921, he noticed that both the glaciers and the seawater appeared blue in color. Raman wondered why they looked blue. He had found a new phenomenon to research. Soon he established a theory about how light scatters through water and ice. He believed that the scattered light imparts color to the medium it scatters through.
The "Raman Effect" for which he won the Nobel Prize can be attributed to an interesting anecdote that prompted him to conduct the research. In 1927, on a cold winter evening when he was busy with his experiments, his student K.S. Krishnan came running toward him and informed him that Professor Compton, another scientist, had won a prize for his research on the scattering of X-rays. This made C.V. Raman think that the logic used by Professor Compton for his discovery could also be applied to understanding light. He conducted several experiments, and in 1928, he presented the results to scientists at a conference in Bangalore, India. The "Raman Effect" has played a significant role in analyzing the molecular structure of chemical compounds.
4
The central idea of the passage is that C.V. Raman was passionate about his research. Which detail from the passage best helps develop this central idea?
A.
This made C.V. Raman think that the logic used by Professor Compton for his discovery could also be applied to understand light.
B.
Raman was the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in 1930 for his research in the field of light.
C.
He would spend hours conducting experiments on light.
D.
His revolutionary findings on light and its properties came to be known as the "Raman Effect."