Wu’s Experiment Chien-Shiung Wu was a physicist In 1956 she did an experiment She saw what happened when atoms broke apart One popular idea said that particles would fly off in all directions equally Like many scientists Chien-Shiung Wu used experiments to learn about the world 5 Chapter 1
But that’s not what happened Wu’s test showed that the idea was incorrect Scientists come up with ideas about how the world works Then they test those ideas Sometimes the ideas are right Other times the ideas need to be changed Did You Know Did You Know Atoms are made of particles Some particles stick together Others move around the rest 6
INSIDE AN ATOM INSIDE AN ATOM In her work Wu focused on the particles of the nucleus She studied how those particles stay together proton electron neutron nucleus Wu’s test changed how scientists saw the world And it was just one of her discoveries For her work Wu is called the First Lady of Physics 7
