Cathode Rays: Wave or particles?
- After Cathode Rays was discovered in 1855, many experiments were done with them in order to understand their nature.
- These experiments are covered in detail here.
- Observations from the experiments confused some scientists as the rays showed properties of both the wave and particles.
- These observations were as follows:
Experiment | Wave Properties | Particle Properties |
---|---|---|
Paddle Wheel | (none) | Had momentum and thus mass |
Magnet | (none) | Was negatively charged (Waves could not be charged) |
Maltese Cross | Propagated in straight lines | (none) |
Electric Plates | Hertz's erroneous experiment displayed that the rays weren't affected by charge | J.J. Thomson's experiment showed that rays were actually affected by an electric field |
- From this, we can see that it is clearly a particle.
- But what type of particle was it? Find out here
page revision: 6, last edited: 07 Jun 2011 08:49