cathode ray

Stream of electrons observed in vacuum tubes

Entityparticle radiationQ207340

Also known as electron beam · e-beam

Instance of: particle radiation
Subclass of: ionizing radiation
, charged particle beam

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Cathode rays are streams of electrons observed in discharge tubes. If an evacuated glass tube is equipped with two electrodes and a voltage is applied, glass behind the positive electrode is observed to glow, due to electrons emitted from the cathode. They were first observed in 1859 by German physicist Julius Plücker and Johann Wilhelm Hittorf, and were named in 1876 by Eugen Goldstein Kathodenstrahlen, or cathode rays. In 1897, British physicist J. J. Thomson showed that cathode rays were composed of a previously unknown negatively charged particle, which was later named the electron. Cathode ray tubes (CRTs) use a focused beam of electrons deflected by electric or magnetic fields to render an image.

Overview

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22 statements · 32% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Opposite of: anode ray
Members / parts: electron

On other databases

17 identifiers linking cathode ray across the web's reference databases

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statements

32%

externally sourced

Source last edited July 31, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). cathode ray (Q207340). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/cathode-ray-Q207340