Aston's first mass spectrograph, c. 1919.
- designer:
- Francis William Aston





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.
Related people
Details
- Category:
- Nuclear Physics
- Object Number:
- 1927-1085
- Materials:
- magnet: copper wire and iron, table: wood and tube: glass
- Measurements:
-
overall (including display table): 1330 x 1380 x 810 mm
- type:
- mass spectrograph
- taxonomy:
-
- furnishing and equipment
- measuring device - instrument
- mass spectroscope
- credit:
- Prof. F.W. Aston
Cite this page
Rights
We encourage the use and reuse of our collection data.
Data in the title, made, maker and details fields are released under Creative Commons Zero
Descriptions and all other text content are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence
Download
Download catalogue entry as json
View manifest in IIIF viewer
Add to Animal Crossing Art Generator
Download manifest IIIF
Our records are constantly being enhanced and improved, but please note that we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information shown on this website.