The X-ray diffraction photography of Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins was critical to showing that

A) DNA has a double-helix structure.
B) the bases of DNA were held together by hydrogen bonds.
C) DNA has equal numbers of purines and pyrimidines.
D) DNA has deoxyribose sugar rather than ribose sugar.
E) the four bases of DNA are adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine.

X-ray Diffraction

Using the diffraction of X-rays, this method unveils the molecular structure by interpreting the scattering pattern that emerges when X-rays pass through a crystalline substance.

Double-Helix Structure

The double-helix structure refers to the spiral shape of DNA, consisting of two strands that wind around each other, likened to a twisted ladder.

Hydrogen Bonds

Weak bonds between two molecules caused by the electrostatic attraction between a proton in one molecule and an electronegative atom in the other.