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Townsend Coefficient
In electromagnetism, the Townsend discharge or Townsend avalanche is an ionisation process for gases where free electrons are accelerated by an electric field, collide with gas molecules, and consequently free additional electrons. Those electrons are in turn accelerated and free additional electrons. The result is an avalanche multiplication that permits significantly increased electrical conduction through the gas. The discharge requires a source of free electrons and a significant electric field; without both, the phenomenon does not occur. The Townsend discharge is named after John Sealy Townsend, who discovered the fundamental ionisation mechanism by his work circa 1897 at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. General description The avalanche occurs in a gaseous medium that can be ionised (such as air). The electric field and the mean free path of the electron must allow free electrons to acquire an energy level (velocity) that can cause impact ionisation. If the electr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electron Avalanche
An electron avalanche is a process in which a number of free electrons in a transmission medium are subjected to strong acceleration by an electric field and subsequently collide with other atoms of the medium, thereby ionizing them ( impact ionization). This releases additional electrons which accelerate and collide with further atoms, releasing more electrons—a chain reaction. In a gas, this causes the affected region to become an electrically conductive plasma. The avalanche effect was discovered by John Sealy Townsend in his work between 1897 and 1901, and is also known as the Townsend discharge. Electron avalanches are essential to the dielectric breakdown process within gases. The process can culminate in corona discharges, streamers, leaders, or in a spark or continuous arc that completely bridges the gap between the electrical conductors that are applying the voltage. The process extends to huge sparks — streamers in lightning discharges propagate by forma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raether Limit
The Raether limit is the physical limiting value of the multiplication factor () or gas gain in an ionization avalanche process ( Townsend avalanche). Even though, theoretically, it seems as if can increase without limit (exponentially), physically, it is limited to about or (where is the first Townsend coefficient and is the length of the path of ionization, starting from the point of the primary ionization). Heinz Raether postulated that this was due to the effect of the space charge on the electric field. The multiplication factor or gas gain is of fundamental importance for the operation of the proportional counter and Geiger counter A Geiger counter (, ; also known as a Geiger–Müller counter or G-M counter) is an electronic instrument for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation with the use of a Geiger–Müller tube. It is widely used in applications such as radiat ... ionizing radiation detectors. Sources * ''The Mechanism of the Electric Spark'', Leo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glow Discharge
A glow discharge is a Plasma (physics), plasma formed by the passage of electric current through a gas. It is often created by applying a voltage between two electrodes in a glass tube containing a low-pressure gas. When the voltage exceeds a value called the striking voltage, the gas ionization becomes self-sustaining, and the tube glows with a colored light. The color depends on the gas used. Glow discharges are used as a source of light in devices such as neon lights, Cold cathode fluorescent lamp, cold cathode fluorescent lamps and plasma display, plasma-screen televisions. Analyzing the light produced with spectroscopy can reveal information about the atomic interactions in the gas, so glow discharges are used in plasma physics and analytical chemistry. They are also used in the surface treatment technique called sputtering. Electrical conduction in gas Conduction in a gas requires charge carriers, which can be either electrons or ions. Charge carriers come from ionizing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Breakdown Voltage
The breakdown voltage of an insulator (electrical), insulator is the minimum voltage that causes a portion of an insulator to experience electrical breakdown and become electrically Conductor (material), conductive. For diodes, the breakdown voltage is the minimum reverse voltage that makes the diode conduct appreciably in reverse. Some devices (such as TRIACs) also have a ''forward breakdown voltage''. Electrical breakdown Materials are often classified as electrical conductor, conductors or Insulator (electricity), insulators based on their resistivity. A conductor is a substance which contains many mobile charged particles called charge carriers which are free to move about inside the material. An electric field is created across a piece of the material by applying a voltage difference between electrical contacts on different sides of the material. The force of the field causes the charge carriers within the material to move, creating an electric current from the positive co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distance
Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects, points, people, or ideas are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). The term is also frequently used metaphorically to mean a measurement of the amount of difference between two similar objects (such as statistical distance between probability distributions or edit distance between string (computer science), strings of text) or a degree of separation (as exemplified by distance (graph theory), distance between people in a social network). Most such notions of distance, both physical and metaphorical, are formalized in mathematics using the notion of a metric space. In the social sciences, distance can refer to a qualitative measurement of separation, such as social distance or psychological distance. Distances in physics and geometry The distance between physical locations can be defined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convention. The net charge of an ion is not zero because its total number of electrons is unequal to its total number of protons. A cation is a positively charged ion with fewer electrons than protons (e.g. K+ ( potassium ion)) while an anion is a negatively charged ion with more electrons than protons (e.g. Cl− ( chloride ion) and OH− ( hydroxide ion)). Opposite electric charges are pulled towards one another by electrostatic force, so cations and anions attract each other and readily form ionic compounds. Ions consisting of only a single atom are termed ''monatomic ions'', ''atomic ions'' or ''simple ions'', while ions consisting of two or more atoms are termed polyatomic ions or ''molecular ions''. If only a + or − is present, it indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
E (mathematical Constant)
The number is a mathematical constant approximately equal to 2.71828 that is the base of a logarithm, base of the natural logarithm and exponential function. It is sometimes called Euler's number, after the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler, though this can invite confusion with Euler numbers, or with Euler's constant, a different constant typically denoted \gamma. Alternatively, can be called Napier's constant after John Napier. The Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli discovered the constant while studying compound interest. The number is of great importance in mathematics, alongside 0, 1, Pi, , and . All five appear in one formulation of Euler's identity e^+1=0 and play important and recurring roles across mathematics. Like the constant , is Irrational number, irrational, meaning that it cannot be represented as a ratio of integers, and moreover it is Transcendental number, transcendental, meaning that it is not a root of any non-zero polynomial with rational coefficie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Photoelectric
The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from a material caused by electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light. Electrons emitted in this manner are called photoelectrons. The phenomenon is studied in condensed matter physics, solid state, and quantum chemistry to draw inferences about the properties of atoms, molecules and solids. The effect has found use in electronic devices specialized for light detection and precisely timed electron emission. The experimental results disagree with classical electromagnetism, which predicts that continuous light waves transfer energy to electrons, which would then be emitted when they accumulate enough energy. An alteration in the intensity of light would theoretically change the kinetic energy of the emitted electrons, with sufficiently dim light resulting in a delayed emission. The experimental results instead show that electrons are dislodged only when the light exceeds a certain frequency—regardless of the light's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ions
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convention. The net charge of an ion is not zero because its total number of electrons is unequal to its total number of protons. A cation is a positively charged ion with fewer electrons than protons (e.g. K+ (potassium ion)) while an anion is a negatively charged ion with more electrons than protons (e.g. Cl− (chloride ion) and OH− (hydroxide ion)). Opposite electric charges are pulled towards one another by electrostatic force, so cations and anions attract each other and readily form ionic compounds. Ions consisting of only a single atom are termed ''monatomic ions'', ''atomic ions'' or ''simple ions'', while ions consisting of two or more atoms are termed polyatomic ions or ''molecular ions''. If only a + or − is present, it indicates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
X-ray
An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Nanometre, nanometers to 10 Picometre, picometers, corresponding to frequency, frequencies in the range of 30 Hertz, petahertz to 30 Hertz, exahertz ( to ) and photon energies in the range of 100 electronvolt, eV to 100 keV, respectively. X-rays were discovered in 1895 in science, 1895 by the German scientist Wilhelm Röntgen, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, who named it ''X-radiation'' to signify an unknown type of radiation.Novelline, Robert (1997). ''Squire's Fundamentals of Radiology''. Harvard University Press. 5th edition. . X-rays can penetrate many solid substances such as construction materials and living tissue, so X-ray radiography is widely used in medical diagnostics (e.g., checking for Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Photoelectric Effect
The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from a material caused by electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light. Electrons emitted in this manner are called photoelectrons. The phenomenon is studied in condensed matter physics, solid state, and quantum chemistry to draw inferences about the properties of atoms, molecules and solids. The effect has found use in electronic devices specialized for light detection and precisely timed electron emission. The experimental results disagree with classical electromagnetism, which predicts that continuous light waves transfer energy to electrons, which would then be emitted when they accumulate enough energy. An alteration in the intensity of light would theoretically change the kinetic energy of the emitted electrons, with sufficiently dim light resulting in a delayed emission. The experimental results instead show that electrons are dislodged only when the light exceeds a certain frequency—regardless of the ligh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voltage Source
A voltage source is a two-terminal (electronics), terminal device which can maintain a fixed voltage. An ideal voltage source can maintain the fixed voltage independent of the load resistance or the output Electric current, current. However, a real-world voltage source cannot supply unlimited current. A voltage source is the dual (electronics), dual of a current source. Real-world sources of electrical energy, such as Electric battery, batteries and Electric generator, generators, can be modeled for analysis purposes as a combination of an ideal voltage source and additional combinations of Electrical impedance, impedance elements. Ideal voltage sources An ideal voltage source is a two-terminal device that maintains a fixed voltage drop across its terminals. It is often used as a mathematical abstraction that simplifies the analysis of real electric circuits. If the voltage across an ideal voltage source can be specified independently of any other variable in a circuit, it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
