Researched
Discovery of the Electron
J. J. Thomson shows (1897) that cathode rays are streams of particles far lighter than any atom.
Open in the interactive tree →Thomson's tube experiments revealed the first subatomic particle and proved that atoms have parts. The electron explains electric current and chemical bonds and is the working particle of vacuum tubes, transistors and chips.
Prerequisites
- Vacuum Pumps & Gas Laws1643-1662
- Electromagnetism1831-1865
Unlocks
- Vacuum Tube (Triode)1906Tubes control the flow of free electrons
- Nucleus & Bohr Atom1911
- Mass Spectrometry1919
- Quantum Chemistry & Bonding1927Chemical bonds are shared or transferred electrons
- Electron microscope1931-1933
- Solid-State Physics & Bands1931Band theory describes electrons in crystals