By Cassie Handley and Marissa Van Elsen November 2013
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J.J. Thomson found that atoms have electrons in them which are negatively
charged. Thomson had made an experiment around the early 1900’s to figure this out. Other scientist had been working on the idea but hadn’t really did an experiment, and finally Thomson did. Thomson put electrically charged plates and magnets in a high-vacuum cathode-ray tube that numerous scientists had been using at the time to study electric discharge. (See diagram). This discovery helped the world of chemistry a lot. If Thomson didn’t find out about the electrons we wouldn’t know how atoms were made or about electron configurations because those have to with electrons. Even though Thomson found out that atoms have electrons, Thomson didn’t have the technology we have today so any slightest mistake could have never discovered the electron. Also, the guesses he made while doing the experiment could have been wrong and completely ruin the experiment.