Inelastic Collisions in Mercury Vapor

Abstract

A narrow beam of electrons from a hot cathode is taken from a space containing Hg vapor and is spread out into a spectrum in a magnetic field. The intensities of the components of the spectrum corresponding to energy losses equivalent to 4.9, 6.7 and 8.8 volts are measured as a function of the initial energy of the electrons. The intensity in each case reaches a distinct maximum within a few volts of the excitation potential of that component. Other energy losses are detected but have such low intensities that they are not measured.