Tube used in the discovery of the electron, about 1896

Tube used in the discovery of the electron, about 1896 Tube used in the discovery of the electron, about 1896 Tube used in the discovery of the electron, about 1896 Tube used in the discovery of the electron, about 1896 Tube used in the discovery of the electron, about 1896 Tube used in the discovery of the electron, about 1896 Tube used in the discovery of the electron, about 1896

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Apparatus for measuring the velocity of the cathode rays and the ratio of the mass of the carriers to the charge carried by them. (J.J. Thomson's original e/m cathode ray tube.)

This is one of the original vacuum tubes used by the Cambridge professor of physics John Joseph Thomson to discover the electron in 1897. Thomson's work contributed enormously to our understanding of the atomic structure of matter, leading to the research fields of atomic and nuclear physics, and marking the birth of the modern electronic age. An enthusiastic and ambitious theoretician, Thomson was known to be an inexpert experimenter. But the results of his work with simple table top apparatus have proved momentous.

Details

Category:
Nuclear Physics
Object Number:
1901-51
Materials:
glass
type:
electrons, cathode ray demonstration tubes and electric discharge lamps
credit:
Loan from Sir Joseph John Thomson, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge

Parts

J J Thomson's Electromagnetic Tube used in the Discovery of the Electron, about 1896

J J Thomson's Electromagnetic Tube used in the Discovery of the Electron, about 1896

Electromagnetic (e/m) cathode ray tube, by Sir Joseph John Thomson, Cambridge, England, 1896. Part of the J.J. Thomson's original e/m cathode ray tube apparatus, for measuring the velocity of the cathode rays and the ratio of the mass of the carriers to the charge carried by them.

More

Apparatus for measuring the velocity of the cathode rays and the ratio of the mass of the carriers to the charge carried by them. (J.J. Thomson's original e/m cathode ray tube.)

This is one of the original cathode ray tubes used by Thomson in a series of experiments that led to the discovery of the electron in 1897. Other investigators had observed strange rays emitted from cathodes (negatively charged plates) inside glass vacuum tubes; Thomson's experiments showed that the rays were streams of particles. The electron's discovery was the beginning of an explosion in the understanding of atomic structure, and indirectly led to the electronics revolution of the 20th century.

Measurements:
overall: 120 mm x 350 mm x 50 mm,
Materials:
glass (soda-glass) , resin (unidentified) and metal (unknown)
Object Number:
1901-51/1
type:
electrons and cathode ray demonstration tubes
Tube used in the discovery of the electron, about 1896

Tube used in the discovery of the electron, about 1896

Magnet coil, part of the apparatus for measuring the velocity of the cathode rays and the ratio of the mass of the carriers to the charge carried by them. (J.J. Thomson's original e/m cathode ray tube.)