Ostronomos
Well-Known Member
Televisions, smartphones and computers all involve no more than the manipulation of electrons.
The ancestor of today's plasma tv's and LCDs was the Crooke's tube. Named for its inventor William Crooke's.
At one end of the tube was a source of electrons, or cathode. Hence, "cathode ray" was a term used to describe the stream of electrons that were attracted by the electromagnetic force towards the positively charged anode at the other end. This was allowed by creating a vacuum inside the tube. Where the intervening air molecules would become ionized and produce electrons by discharge, which would then follow the path or stream toward the anode, where it would produce higher levels of energy in the atoms of the glass past the anode, so that when it return to normal energy levels it would emit light.
It was only a matter of time before they were using electrical and magnetic fields to steer or manipulate the electrons and thus 'paint' an image on the phosphorescent screen. And so television was born.
The ancestor of today's plasma tv's and LCDs was the Crooke's tube. Named for its inventor William Crooke's.
At one end of the tube was a source of electrons, or cathode. Hence, "cathode ray" was a term used to describe the stream of electrons that were attracted by the electromagnetic force towards the positively charged anode at the other end. This was allowed by creating a vacuum inside the tube. Where the intervening air molecules would become ionized and produce electrons by discharge, which would then follow the path or stream toward the anode, where it would produce higher levels of energy in the atoms of the glass past the anode, so that when it return to normal energy levels it would emit light.
It was only a matter of time before they were using electrical and magnetic fields to steer or manipulate the electrons and thus 'paint' an image on the phosphorescent screen. And so television was born.
