Cathode rays
Rayos catódicos
- Date
- 1869-1879 · confidence high
- Place
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- William Crookes; Johann Hittorf; Julius Plücker
- People
- 👤 Johann Wilhelm Hittorf1824–1914👤 Julius Plücker1801–1868👤 William Crookes1832–1919
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
In vacuum tubes a discharge produces rays that leave the cathode, cast shadows and are deflected by magnets; Crookes calls them 'radiant matter'. They will be identified as electrons and give rise to X-rays and television.
Plücker (Bonn, 1858-1859) and Hittorf (Münster, 1869) first observed the rays; German physicists believed they were aether waves.
What it led to
- Discovery of the electron (1897)
- X-rays (1895)
- Cathode-ray tube (television, oscilloscope)
- Atomic physics
Built on
- Ruhmkorff induction coilc. 1851
- Geissler tube1857
- Sprengel and Geissler's vacuum pump
- Geissler tubes (1857)
Made possible
- The electron1897
- Cathode ray tube (Braun tube)1897
- Electron microscope1931–1933
- Crookes tube
- Oscilloscope and cathode-ray television