Apropos, the word of the day means “at an opportune time”, as in the National Science Day 2025 arrived apropos.
That is, it came just as our Ray students won the regional competitions of the National Science Bowl and the National Ocean Sciences Bowl. So now it’s time to pay tribute to this special day that honors Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, AKA C.V. Raman, the famous physicist who won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Raman Effect. (No, not the Ramen effect. Save that thought for later.)
When a beam of light traverses a transparent sample of a chemical compound, this light becomes scattered. While the wavelength of most of this scattered light remains the same, a small part actually displays a different wavelength from that of the incident light.
How does this happen?
You guessed it: the Raman Effect.
As particles of the light beam, or photons, strike the sample’s molecules, some of these molecules take up or give up energy to the photons. The exiting and scattered photons thus leave with a different frequency and wavelength.
So, let’s honor Mr. Raman and celebrate February 28th as National Science Day! Throughout India, academic institutions host exhibitions, presentations, workshops, and competitions to inspire the next generation of scientists. We too can join in and celebrate this day by promoting scientific awareness and innovation. Only then, can we also celebrate a good bowl of Ramen noodles…
To read more about National Science Day, click here!
To read more about the Raman Effect, click here!
