J.J.Thomson discovered the electron in 1897 and won the Nobel Prize in 1906 for this work. His discovery was as a result of discharge tube experiment. The experiment was performed by passing high voltage (10000 Volts) electricity through gases at extremely low pressure .the gas was taken in a well designed glass tube using metal electrodes known as discharge tube. As the high voltage electricity was through the gases, they became conductor and electricity began to flow from the cathodes side in the form of rays. These rays were called cathode rays. J.J.Thomson studied the properties of the cathode rays which lead to the discovery of an electron. Cathode rays possess the following properties:
1. These rays ionize the gas through which they pass.
2. They have capacity to penetrate the thin sheet of metals.
3. They cause the materials like glass to glow upon striking on them.
All the above observation led to the conclusion that cathode rays consists of the negatively charged particles having a certain mass. These particles were named electrons by J.J.Thomson and Stoney.
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