Thomson Experiment

203
Thomson

As scientists began to examine atoms, their first discovery was that they could extract negatively charged
particles from atoms. They called these particles electrons. In order to understand the nature of these
particles, they wanted to know how much they weighed and how much charge they carried. Thomson
showed that if you could measure how much a beam of electrons were bent in an electric and magnetic
field, you could figure out the ratio of mass to charge for the particles. You will repeat some of
Thomsons experiments in this lab.

1. Set up the optics table for the Thomson experiment by placing the electron gun on the table, aimed at
the phosphor screen, and placing the electric and magnetic fields between them right in front of the
phosphor screen.

2. Turn on the phosphor screen, and push the grid button.

3. Set the electron gun energy to 100 eV with an intensity of 1 nA.

4. Increase the voltage of the electric field to 10 V.

What happens to the spot from the electron gun?

How is the electric field calculated from the applied voltage?

Which direction is the electric field pointing?

What is the force produced by an electric field?

What voltage do you have to apply to move the spot to the first line in the grid?

What voltage is necessary to move it just off the screen?

5. Increase the electron gun energy to 500 eV.

How does increasing the electron gun energy change the speed of the electrons? ______________

________________________________________________________________________________

How does this increase change the deflection of the electrons? ____________________________

Why does the deflection change? ___________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

What voltage do you need to deflect the electrons to the edge of the screen? __________________

To the first grid line? _____________________________________________________________

6. Decrease the electron gun energy to 10 eV.

How does this change the deflection of the electrons? ____________________________________
Atomic Theory and Quantum Mechanics
204

7. Choose at least five other electron energies, and find the voltages necessary to deflect the electron
beam to the edge of the screen. Then plot a graph of electron energy versus voltage.



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Energy Voltage




















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What is the trend of the data? ______________________________________________________

8. Using your graph, predict the voltage necessary to deflect a 235 eV electron beam to the edge of the
screen, and then test to determine whether your prediction is right. Finally, predict the electron energy
necessary to have the beam deflected to the edge of the screen by a voltage of 20 V, and test to
determine whether your prediction is right.

(235 eV electron beam) Voltage prediction: Measured voltage: _______________

(20 V) Electron energy prediction: Measured electron energy: ________________

9. Turn off the electric field, and repeat the experiment with the magnetic field. Set the electron gun
energy back to 100 eV, and turn the magnetic field on to 20 T.

What happens to the spot from the electron gun? _______________________________________

Which direction is the magnetic field pointing? ________________________________________

What is the force produced by a magnetic field? _______________________________________


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Energy
Thomson Experiment
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10. As before, choose several electron energies, and find the magnetic fields necessary to deflect the
electron beam to the edge of the screen. Then, plot a graph of electron energy versus field.



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Energy Magnetic field




















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How does the magnetic field change the electron beam differently than the electric field?





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Energy
Atomic Theory and Quantum Mechanics
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