<P> The German physicist Johann Wilhelm Hittorf studied electrical conductivity in rarefied gases : in 1869 , he discovered a glow emitted from the cathode that increased in size with decrease in gas pressure . In 1876 , the German physicist Eugen Goldstein showed that the rays from this glow cast a shadow , and he dubbed the rays cathode rays . During the 1870s , the English chemist and physicist Sir William Crookes developed the first cathode ray tube to have a high vacuum inside . He then showed that the luminescence rays appearing within the tube carried energy and moved from the cathode to the anode . Furthermore , by applying a magnetic field , he was able to deflect the rays , thereby demonstrating that the beam behaved as though it were negatively charged . In 1879 , he proposed that these properties could be explained by what he termed ' radiant matter ' . He suggested that this was a fourth state of matter , consisting of negatively charged molecules that were being projected with high velocity from the cathode . </P>
<P> The German physicist Johann Wilhelm Hittorf studied electrical conductivity in rarefied gases : in 1869 , he discovered a glow emitted from the cathode that increased in size with decrease in gas pressure . In 1876 , the German physicist Eugen Goldstein showed that the rays from this glow cast a shadow , and he dubbed the rays cathode rays . During the 1870s , the English chemist and physicist Sir William Crookes developed the first cathode ray tube to have a high vacuum inside . He then showed that the luminescence rays appearing within the tube carried energy and moved from the cathode to the anode . Furthermore , by applying a magnetic field , he was able to deflect the rays , thereby demonstrating that the beam behaved as though it were negatively charged . In 1879 , he proposed that these properties could be explained by what he termed ' radiant matter ' . He suggested that this was a fourth state of matter , consisting of negatively charged molecules that were being projected with high velocity from the cathode . </P>
who discovered that electrons have a negative charge
who discovered that electrons have a negative charge
Johann Wilhelm Hittorf
Johann Wilhelm Hittorf