Aston's first mass spectrograph, c. 1919.

Aston's first mass spectrograph, c. 1919. Aston's first mass spectrograph, c. 1919. Aston's first mass spectrograph, c. 1919. Aston's first mass spectrograph, c. 1919. Aston's first mass spectrograph, c. 1919.

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

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Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Prof. F.W. Aston's original Aston Mass-Spectrograph complete with magnet

The first mass spectograph was designed by Cambridge scientist F W Aston (1877-1945). It could separate isotopes, which are chemically identical atoms with different masses. The spectograph's globe contained a compound of the material to be tested and an electric current then knocked electrons from the material's atoms. Aston worked with J J Thomson (1856-1940) to show that over 50 elements were made up of atoms of different atomic masses but the same atomic numbers.

Details

Category:
Nuclear Physics
Object Number:
1927-1085
Materials:
tube: glass, magnet: copper wire and iron and table: wood
Measurements:
overall (including display table): 1330 x 1380 x 810 mm
type:
mass spectrograph
credit:
Prof. F.W. Aston