Trial Electrode from Moseley Apparatus, Manchester/Oxford, c.1913

This particular piece of apparatus was used by Henry Moseley, first at Manchester in 1913 and then at Oxford from November 1913 to the summer of 1914. He studied chemical samples using X-ray spectroscopy and hence determine their atomic number. The results were published in the ‘Philosophical Magazine’ in 1913 and 1914.

The electrode was used to produce the energetic electrons which, when they strike an atom, create X-rays with characteristic wavelengths. This process was exploited in X-ray spectrometer experiments to identify elements and hence determine the number of protons in the element’s nucleus.

Glass tube with disc electrode at one end and pinch point half way along length to provide electrical connection while preserving the vacuum. Accompanied by a small fragmentary piece of bell-end glassware which might conceivably have once contained another electrode. The additional piece has a small (later) circular sticker hand-numbered "3" and uses a similar white sealing material to Inv. Num. 18034. Glassware Piece from Moseley Apparatus, c.1913.

See attached narrative 'Henry 'Harry' Moseley and his experiments' for further details.