Who won the first Nobel Prize in Physics?
Wilhelm Röntgen, a German physicist, won the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for his discovery of X-rays.
Questions about Nobel Prize in Physics
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How many people have won the Nobel Prize in Physics?
A total of 229 people have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
When is the Nobel Prize in Physics ceremony held?
The Nobel Prize in Physics ceremony is held every year on the 10th of December in Stockholm Concert Hall, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. Laureates are typically announced during the first week of October.
How much money comes with the Nobel Prize in Physics?
The cash award for the Nobel Prize in Physics changes from year to year based on the Nobel Foundation's funding. In 2009 the total award was 10 million Swedish kronor, about US$1.4 million, and by 2012, after the Great Recession, it had dropped to 8 million kronor, roughly US$1.1 million.
Who selects the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics?
The Nobel Committee for Physics, five members elected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, runs the nomination process, and the full Academy makes the final choice by majority vote. No more than three laureates and two separate works can be honored in a single year.
Why does the Nobel Prize in Physics take so long to award some discoveries?
The Nobel Prize in Physics requires that an achievement be "tested by time" before it qualifies, so the gap between a discovery and its award is typically around twenty years or more. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, for example, received half of the 1983 prize for work on stellar structure and evolution completed in the 1930s.