8 Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman

Time period:

1888 – 1970

Subject:

Physics

Biography:

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888–1970), otherwise known as C. V. Raman, was an Indian physicist renowned for his groundbreaking work in light scattering. He was born on November 21, 1888, in Tiruchirapalli, India and passed away on November 21, 1970, at the age of 82. Raman excelled academically from a very young age and went on to pursue physics despite the limited resources and research opportunities in colonial India.

At 13, Raman began his B.A. at the Presidency College, Madras in 1902. In 1904, he completed his B.A. when he topped his B.A. examination, winning first place and the gold medal in physics. By 1907, at the age of 19, he completed his M.A. degree with the highest distinctions. In 1930, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics, making him the first non-White in history to win a prize in the sciences.

In 1907, Raman joined the Indian Finance Department. Despite spending most of his time in the office, Raman spent time carrying out research in a laboratory at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science at Calcutta.

In 1917, he accepted an offer to be the Palit Chair of Physics at Calcutta University and eventually became a Professor at the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore in 1933. In 1926 he founded the Indian Journal of Physics and in 1948, he established Raman Institute of Research at Bangalore and endowed himself the role of Director.

Summary of their contributions:

Advancement of Science in India:

Raman, born in the times of colonial India where opportunities in Science were limited, did significant work to develop the scientific infrastructure in India, inspiring and enabling future generations to pursue science.

Raman Effect:

In 1928, he and his student (Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan, generally referred to as K. S. Krishnan) discovered that when light passes through a transparent material, some of the light deflected changes in wavelength. They named this effect “modified scattering.” Today, this phenomenon is known as the “Raman effect” or “Raman Scattering.”

This discovery revolutionized the understanding of molecular interactions with light. It forms the basis of Raman spectroscopy, a widely used tool in physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science.

His discovery of the Raman Effect led to him earning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930, making him the first Asian and non-White in history to receive a Nobel Prize in a science field.

Integration with the BC Secondary Science Curriculum:

Science 8:

Big idea: Energy can be transferred as both a particle and a wave.

Topic: Energy can be transferred as both a particle and a wave.

Raman’s discovery of light scattering is a real-world application of energy transfer through waves. The Raman effect describes how light changes its wavelength (and, in turn, its frequency) when interacting with a molecule due to an energy transfer between light and the molecule.

Science 10:

Big Idea: Energy is conserved and its transformation can affect living things and the environment

Topic: Energy transfer

According to Raman scattering: Light changes energy (frequency) after it interacts with matter. This is an example of energy transfer and energy conservation

Physics 11: 

Big idea: Mechanical waves transfer energy but not matter. + Energy is found in different forms, is conserved, and has the ability to do work.

Topic: Properties and behaviours of waves

Raman effect showcases how waves can carry and transfer energy when interacting with molecules. Moreover, it shows how the energy transfer can be observed through the change in wavelength/frequency.

Chemistry 12:

Big idea: Reactants must collide to react, and the reaction rate is dependent on the surrounding conditions.

Topic: Reaction kinetics and equilibrium

Raman spectroscopy (which looks at the Raman effect) monitors the changes that occur in a reaction by observing the difference in light scattered during the reaction.

Curricular Competencies:

Questioning and predicting

Applying and innovating

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

References:

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. (n.d.). The Nobel Prize. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1930/raman/biographical

Nobel Prize Outreach AB. (n.d.). Facts about the Nobel Prize in Physics 1930. The Nobel Prize. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1930/raman/facts/.

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). C.V. Raman | Indian physicist. In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/C-V-Raman

Wikipedia Contributors. (n.d.). C. V. Raman. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._V._Raman

Raman Effect. Wikipedia. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raman_effect