How did J.J Thompson discover the electron?
The atom was first discovered in the early 1800’s by John Dalton, who acknowledged the “Atomic Theory of Matter”, and the “Law of Multiple Proportions”, and created the “Table of Atomic Masses”. Atoms have been constantly looked at by scientists since then, and are learning more about them every day. Inspired by James Clerk Maxwell, who developed a set of equations expressing the basic law of electricity and magnetism, JJ Thomson looked further into electricity and magnetism and discovered a particle that is contained in atoms, the electron. This is how he came up with the idea…..A cathode ray is a stream of electrons, a negatively charged particle two thousand times lighter then a hydrogen atom. Atoms contain electrons; they are near the outside of the atom because they are easily removed. Cathode rays are experimented with, using a cathode ray tube. A cathode ray tube has a small heater element sealed inside a vacuum, a small positively charged electrode (a solid electric conductor
