Audience:

The following instructions are aimed at physics students who are at least finished their junior
year lectures of an undergraduate degree. The audience should also be familiar with: the
instruments in the following diagrams, vacuum chambers and how to evacuate them. This
experiment is taken from PHYS405 Advanced Experiments.
Purpose:
In this experiment you will be measuring the charge to mass ratio of an electron by using the
setup above. Note, the arm assembly will be inserted into a vacuum chamber when data is being
collected.
Context:
This experiment is taken from Dr. Jawherys advanced laboratory physics from the University of
Maryland. The experiment is an adaptation of how the charge to mass ratio of electrons was
initially measured by J.J. Thomson in 1897.
Construction:
I break the directions for this experiment into three sub-routines because it is a natural structure
for carrying out the experiment. It starts with setting up the apparatus so that measurements can
be made. The directions then move on to how data will be collected from multiple trials. Lastly,
the directions cover the general idea behind analyzing the data.
A solution manual is provided at the end to aid the learning process if readers or experiments are
struggling.

In this experiment you will be measuring the charge to mass ratio of electrons. The Classen
method is used and the procedure was developed in PHYS405 Advanced Experiments at the
University of Maryland. The Classen method is an adaptation of the method used by J.J.
Thomson in 1897. The preparation of the apparatus is key to collecting good data and ultimately
the analysis, so follow carefully.
WARNING: This experiment uses HIGH VOLTAGE to accelerate electron from a filament.
Carefully, navigate around the apparatus at all times. Always turn off and disconnect the HIGH
VOLTAGE source when opening the vacuum chamber.
FAILURE TO HEED THIS MAY RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH!
Preparation
Plug in the vacuum pumps, and turn them on so they can warm up (30 mins).
Plug in the current supply, and connect the leads to the Helmholtz coil.
Spread the slit plate jaws until there is a .2mm gap between the slit plate and the slit jaws
on both sides.
Measure the distance between the two slits with calipers.
With the vacuum chamber valved off, insert the mounting block-arm into the vacuum
chamber.
Unvalve the vacuum chamber to evacuate the vacuum chamber.
Connect the Labpro to the picoammeter using a BNC cable.
Double check the HIGH VOLTAGE is off, only then CONNECT the HIGH VOLTAGE to
the co-axial port on the outside of the vacuum flange that goes to the filament.
Measurement
Turn on the current supply that powers the Helmholtz coils.
Double check the HIGH VOLTAGE connection is secure and nothing conductive is near.
IF there is no possibility of physical contact, THEN turn on the HIGH VOLTAGE.
Set the HIGH VOLTAGE between 750-1000 volts and record the value.
Flip the switch on the current supply from reset to ramp.

In Logpro, click RUN to run one trial.

Analysis
When the current sent to the Helmholts coil reaches a certain value, the electrons
accelerated from the filament will follow a nearly perfect semi-circle from the initial slit
to the final slit and be registered by the picoammeter.
Within Logpro, when the current sent to the Helmholts coil is below the certain value,
and above the certain value the picoammeter will register little to no signal. When the
certain value is realized the picoammeter will register a fleeting yet massive peak in
voltage.
Record the current when the peak in signal is realized.
Use the Helmholtz calibration and the current value to determine the magnetic field value
when the peak signal is realized.
The charge to mass ratio of electrons can be determined using: the value of the magnetic
field, the value of the high voltage, half the distance between the slits, the equation for
centripetal force, the equation for Lorrentz force, and the equation governing the kinetic
energy of the electrons. The details of these equations are left to the experimenter.

Solution Manual