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Introduction The charge-to-mass ratio (e/m) for an electron was first measured by Sir J.J. Thomson in 1897 at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England. His result, later recognized with the awarding of the Nobel Prize, amounted to the discovery of the electron. It represented a fundamental contribution to the evolving model of atom structure, which hitherto had not considered the existence of subatomic constituent particles. Shortly after, these improvements in the atomic model would lead to the rapid, revolutionary development of quantum and nuclear physics. Thomsons experiment was similar in principle to the one you will be doing. The principles are: a) "Boil" electrons off a hot filament. b) Accelerate the electrons through a known potential difference. c) Project the electrons, which should now all be travelling at the same constant speed, into a uniform magnetic field. d) Knowing the electron velocity, the magnetic field strength, and the radius of the circle of electrons travel in, the e/m ratio can be calculated. The large glass bulb in which the electrons travel is evacuated except for some helium gas. As the electrons hit the helium atoms, ionization, followed by recombination, will cause the emission of blue-green light. This light will allow you to locate the path of the electron beam. The two large copper coils outside of the bulb are called Helmholtz coils and are used to generate the uniform magnetic field.
Theory When a charged particle moves through a magnetic field, it experiences a force that is given by the expression: