The Electron

The discovery of the electron is credited to British physicist J. J. Thomson, however his experiments
was tied in with previous experiments on cathode ray tubes.

A cathode ray tube a sealed glass tube from which the air inside has been mostly removed. A high
voltage is applied across electrodes in one end of the cube as seen in Figure 1, this causes a beam of
particles to flow from the cathode - to the anode +. The ray is detected by adding a synthetic
fluorescent or phosphorescent
substance (phosphors) onto the
opposite end of the tube. When the
cathode ray collides with the
phosphors, they emit light.1

German physicist Johann Wilhelm

Hittorf discovered that by placing a solid
object in the middle of the tube Figure 1, Credit: Openstax
between the phosphor and cathode
would cast a shadow on the phosphor coated end of the tube. He was able to conclude that the
phosphorescence was caused by rays being emitted from the cathode and hitting the phosphor on
the tube walls.2

In order to test the properties of the ray being emitted, J. J. Thomson placed a negative and
positively charged plate on either side of the cathode ray as seen in Figure 1. The beam was
deflected away from away from the negatively charged plate and towards the positively charged
plate. Thomson concluded that the cathode ray was comprised of negatively charged particles. 3

Thompson also found that placing 2 magnets also caused the cathode ray to be deflected. He also
measured the mass charge ratio by accelerating the ray (beam of electrons) through a potential
difference towards a positively charged plate. Some of the
electrons pass through a small hole in the plate to direct
them to an electric and magnetic field. The electrons
velocity was in the x direction. He then calculated the
force on an electron due to an electric and magnetic field
which he adjusted to cancel each other out. He also
calculated the velocity of an electron by converting its
potential energy to kinetic energy. By using the resulting y
direction, he was able to calculate the charge to mass
ratio. [Figure 2]4. He concluded that these particles must
Figure 2, Credit: Lampx
exist as part of atoms in every element due to their mass.

1
Khan Academy. 2020. Discovery of the electron and nucleus (article) | Khan Academy. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-chemistry/electronic-structure-of-atoms-ap/history-of-atomic-structure-
ap/a/discovery-of-the-electron-and-nucleus. [Accessed 06 September 2020].
2
George F. Bertsch, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne. 2020. Atom - Discovery of electrons | Britannica. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.britannica.com/science/atom/Discovery-of-electrons#ref496623. [Accessed 06 September 2020].
3
Cathode Rays | Introduction to Chemistry. 2020. Cathode Rays | Introduction to Chemistry. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introchem/chapter/cathode-rays/. [Accessed 06 September 2020].
4
J. J. Thomson's experiment to determine the charge-to-mass ratio of electrons. 2020. J. J. Thomson's experiment to
determine the charge-to-mass ratio of electrons. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://lampx.tugraz.at/~hadley/num/apps/numerical_integration/thomson.en.php#:~:text=He%20determined%20that
%20the%20negatively,towards%20a%20positively%20charged%20plate. [Accessed 06 September 2020].