Crookes tube and the discovery of the electron: a maker experiment

Abstract

The main idea of maker culture is that we can build, create and repair objects and spaces with our own hands. In this work we propose to reconstruct the discovery of the electron through the construction of a Crookes tube. The choice of the topic came from the students' interest in high voltage generators during basic electronics classes and studies on the structure of matter. After numerous attempts, a prototype was generated using a high voltage generator with oscillator and automotive coil and a vacuum was produced with a Kitasato flask connected to an air conditioning motor. The experiment showed the effect of electrons moving from the cathode to the anode and then bumping into the wall of the tube, producing luminosity, even if low, but in a satisfactory way, thus reproducing the first experiments to discover the first subatomic particle of the atom, the electron.