Concepts in Physics

Electromagnetism
Hamad Alkhaldi
, 2015

The topic of physics which is covered in this topic is called electromagnetism. This video is an
illustration of how a television works through applying right hand rule on this phenomenon.
Invention of television is result of series of inventions. It started with the invention of Geissler
tubes. He evacuated the glass tubes and filled them with different gases. When he applied high
voltage at the ends of the tubes, the gas began to glow. He supplied these tubes to schools and
homes as a source of entertainment. Similar kinds of tubes were invested by Sir Williams Crook
which he designed to observe the phospho-flourescence. The tube basically consisted of a cone
made up of a glass in which there were three electric elements fitted in the tube. The tube was
filled with vacuum. A coil was connected to the small end of the tube and connected to negative
terminal of the current was connected at this end. The coil was heated when current passed
through it. A positive terminal was connected to larger end of the cone. The end to which
negative end was connected was named as cathode while the other end was known as anode. The
anode was coated with phosphorous, painted with zinc sulphide and copper.
Next, a distinctive shape was placed between the cathode and anode. This was the third element
which was also connected to cathode. When, the current was passed through the terminals, the
screen of the cone glow while its shadow was visible on the anode screen. Crook considered
them to be the rays which were emitted from the cathode and they stroked the anode which made
the phosphorous on the anode dark. When a bar magnet was brought near the cathode ray tube,
particles of the cathode rays moved in spirals. When a horseshoe magnet was brought near the
tube, the cathode rays changed their straight path into bent path.
Crook was not right about the nature of the cathode rays. Later on, it was studied by J. J.
Thompson that the cathode rays were in fact streams of particles which were found to be 2000
times lighter than hydrogen atom and these particles carried negative charge. These particles

were named as electrons. Both, Crook and Thompson found that when a magnetic field was
applied at 90 degree angle to the cathode ray tube, electrons in the tube changed their path. This
indicated existence of the force which made the particles change their paths. When the current
passed through the conductor, a magnetic field is created around this conductor. Current is also
movement of electrons. The conventional current is defined as the movement of charged
particles from region of negatively charged particles to region of positively charged particles.
As the electrons pass through the conductor, its direction can be calculated through right hand
rule. If the fingers of the right hand are curved in direction of magnetic field, stretched thumb
shows the direction of the current. The magnitude of force on electrons can be determined
through Eq.
F=q . v . B

In 1897, Carl Brown came up with a special kind of cathode ray tube which was the first
oscilloscope to be used in televisions. It was the first tube which was modified a little bit to
invent the first television in 1920. Two sets of electromagnets control the movement of electrons
in the beam of oscilloscope. When the high energy electrons strike the phosphorous coated
screen, it starts glowing. There is only one phosporous which turns bright when electron strikes
it. Electronic coils are used to paint the whole screen at the rate of 50 times per second. Each
times the electron strikes, the phosphorous glows. There are three different color beams which
move parallel to reach the TV screen in case of color TVS. The screen of color TV is coated with
red, green and blue phosphorous which produced colors. Color TV has a metal sheet near the
phosphorous coating. Particular dots are painted on the screen when that particular beam is fired
at the screen. Rest of the colors are combination these three basic beams.