Making Super Fast Electrons, Cathode Ray

NaturalEnvironment

I just noticed, you can see what I suspect is X-ray radiation causing the glass to fluoresce electric blue. You should have a geiger counter running during these experiments

Allen Cobb

Use a second washer to capture the less-divergent electrons, and then place a phosphor-coated sheet inside (or outside) the glass to show the shape of the electron beam. You can add horizontal or vertical pairs of parallel plates which, when energized with a low voltage, will deflect the beam. But for this you probably need to put the belljar on its side. As for the Xrays, do be careful. I built an Xray machine from the SciAm article back in the 50's, using a TV flyback xformer, and my dad (a doctor) made me use it with great caution. In those days you could go to a shoe store and stand on a fluoroscope Xray gadget to see your toes inside the shoes -- and irradiate the family jewels at the same time. In those days we were also weaving baby blankets out of asbestos! Science marches on . . . and many thanks to you for exciting the next gen.

20-30 kV and a few mA? Sounds like you want creating X-rays.

What happens if you reverse the polarity.

Turing Eret

No more ElectroCUTEs, I guess.

Turing Eret

Not fission, but I believe he's pretty close to making a Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor which can produce fusion!

Turing Eret

Hehehehe. It looks like an anus. I'm sorry I'm an immature idiot.

Peter Begley

Did the bell chamber ever fall off the desk? 12:08

Tons of x-rays

Rocco Rizzo

Try an electro-magnet to focus the beam, like they do on CRTs.

NaturalEnvironment

In the case of the CRT, there are several control electrodes that control acceleration and beam forming and focus. After leaving the electron gun, the beam gets propelled by the accelerator into the extra-high-voltage space and collides with the front glass of the CRT, illuminating the phosphor there. The now spent electrons get sucked out by the extra high voltage space charge. Applied Science has a good video on this topic where he explains the CRT electron gun’s construction and electrode placement. His homemade electron microscope series also has good electron gun information.

ElectroBOOM [Mehdi Sadaghdar]

Thanks! I thought that would be the case, but then this image confuses me. Yes the ray is folding back to likely an anode plate in magnetic fields. But without magnetic fields and no folding, the Ray just goes straight, right? Where does it go?!

Terence Tan

Next step, backyard fission reactor!

Love it!! A very interesting experiment, to be sure!

NaturalEnvironment

You need an accelerator washer close to the filament at a few hundred volts, and then a large high voltage area to collect them after they shoot through the accelerator! The bell of the CRT is painted inside with graphite, and the extra high voltage button on the side of the bell connects to this inner graphite.