The effects of electron collisions with atmospheric neon

Abstract

The present paper contains an account of an investigation of the effects of electron collisions with neon atoms by a method similar to that used with helium and with argon. The apparatus employed is practically the same as that described in the account of the experiments with argon, the only difference being that one of the lower gauzes (C) was removed and that two small platinum plate electrodes were sealed into the ionisation chamber, so as to provide an electric field at right angles to the direction of the electron stream. The arrangement will be understood by reference to fig. 1, in which the lettering corresponds to that used in the earlier paper. The object of introducing the side electrodes, G and H, was to enable a second test of the production of ionisation to be made by means of a delicate galvanometer included in a subsidiary circuit. The usual precautions for ridding the glass and the electrodes from occluded gases were taken, and in all the observations recorded in the paper a magnetic field parallel to the axis of the discharge tube was used to prevent the electron stream from spreading laterally.