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Pjosephfraunhofer PDF

Joseph von Fraunhofer was the first physicist to study the dark lines in the Sun's spectrum, now known as Fraunhofer lines. By examining these lines, he was able to identify elements in the Sun's atmosphere, leading to the discovery of helium. Fraunhofer extensively studied diffraction gratings and the relationship between their dispersion properties and the spacing of their wires. His work established the field of spectroscopy and supported the wave theory of light.

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Vibhu Mittal
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Pjosephfraunhofer PDF

Joseph von Fraunhofer was the first physicist to study the dark lines in the Sun's spectrum, now known as Fraunhofer lines. By examining these lines, he was able to identify elements in the Sun's atmosphere, leading to the discovery of helium. Fraunhofer extensively studied diffraction gratings and the relationship between their dispersion properties and the spacing of their wires. His work established the field of spectroscopy and supported the wave theory of light.

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Vibhu Mittal
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Joseph von Fraunhofer

(He identified light sources by their spectrum) Joseph von Fraunhofer was the first physicist to investigate the dark lines in the Suns spectra, now known by his name. By studying these lines, it became possible to identify the elements present in the Suns atmosphere, which led to the discovery of the element helium. Fraunhofer was born on 6 March 1787 in a poor family at Straubing, Bavaria, Germany. With little formal education, he started working at the age of 10 in his fathers optical workshop. An orphan by the age of 12, he became an apprentice to a master glasscutter in Munich. Later he worked as an optician at the Untzschneider Optical Institute at Benedictbeuern, near Munich, of which he became manager in 1818. It was while measuring the light-bending properties of various kinds of glass that he noticed dark lines in the light spectrum of a sodium flame, and he continued looking for such lines in the spectra of other elements. After plotting hundreds of spectral lines and measuring their wavelengths Fraunhofer found that the relative positions of the lines in the spectra of elements are constant, irrespective of whether the spectra are produced by the direct rays of the Sun or by the reflected light of the Moon and planets, or by a glowing gas, or by heated metal in the laboratory. Franuhofer was the first to extensively use diffraction grating, a device that disperses light in much the same way as a glass prism. He was the first person who studied the dark lines of the Suns spectrum, now known as Fraunhofer lines. His work set the stage for the development of spectroscopy. He examined the relationship between dispersion and separation of wires in the grating and showed that the dispersion is inversely related to the distance between successive slits in the grating. In 1821 and 1823, shortly after Fresnels interference phenomena received public attention, Fraunhofer published two papers in which he interpreted certain diffraction patterns in terms of the wave theory of light. Fraunhofer died on 7 June 1826 in Munich, Germany.

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