large/12904/worldswithinworlds_v1-3_1904_librivox_64kb_mp3/worldswithinworlds_01_asimov_64kb_38
large/12904/worldswithinworlds_v1-3_1904_librivox_64kb_mp3/worldswithinworlds_01_asimov_64kb
English
12904
Were cathode rays something like light and were they made up of tiny waves? Or were they a stream of particles possessing mass? WERE CATHODE RAYS SOMETHING LIKE LIGHT AND WERE THEY MADE UP OF TINY WAVES OR WERE THEY A STREAM OF PARTICLES POSSESSING MASS
o such a “Geissler tube” could be attached to the poles of an electric generator, and if enough voltage was built up, the current would leap across the vacuum. [Illustration: _A Geissler tube._ labelled: Current source] Such experiments were first performed by the German physicist Julius Plücker (1801-1868). In 1858 he noticed that when the current flowed across the vacuum there was a greenish glow about the wire that was attached to the cathode of the generator. Others studied this glow and finally the German physicist Eugen Goldstein (1850-1931) decided in 1876 that there were rays of some sort beginning at the wire attached to the negatively charged cathode and ending at the part of the tube opposite the cathode. He called them “cathode rays”. These cathode rays, it seemed, might well be the electric current itself, freed from the metal wires that usually carried it. If so, determining the nature of the cathode rays might reveal a great deal about the nature of the electric current. SUCH A GEESELER TUBE COULD BE ATTACHED TO THE POLES OF AN ELECTRIC GENERATOR AND IF ENOUGH VOLTAGE WAS BUILT UP THE CURRENT WOULD LEAP ACROSS THE VACUUM SUCH EXPERIMENTS WERE FIRST PERFORMED BY THE GERMAN PHYSICIST JULIUS PLUKER EIGHTEEN O ONE EIGHTEEN SIXTY EIGHT IN EIGHTEEN FIFTY EIGHT HE NOTICED THAT WHEN THE CURRENT FLOWED ACROSS THE VACUUM THERE WAS A GREENISH GLOW ABOUT THE WIRE THAT WAS ATTACHED TO THE CATHODE OF THE GENERATOR OTHERS STUDIED THIS GLOW AND FINALLY THE GERMAN PHYSICIST EUGENE GOLDSTEIN EIGHTEEN FIFTY NINETEEN THIRTY ONE DECIDED IN EIGHTEEN SEVENTY SIX THAT THERE WERE RAYS OF SOME SORT BEGINNING AT THE WIRE ATTACHED TO THE NEGATIVELY CHARGED CATHODE AND ENDING AT THE PART OF THE TUBE OPPOSITE THE CATHODE HE CALLED THEM CATHODE RAYS THESE CATHODE RAYS IT SEEMED MIGHT WELL BE THE ELECTRIC CURRENT ITSELF FREED FROM THE METAL WIRES THAT USUALLY CARRIED IT IF SO DETERMINING THE NATURE OF THE CATHODE RAYS MIGHT REVEAL A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE ELECTRIC CURRENT
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