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Announcement at the Royal Institution
- When
- 30 April 1897
- Where
- Royal Institution
Thomson announced the existence of subatomic particles, calling them 'corpuscles', based on observations of cathode rays traveling further than expected for atoms.
On 30 April 1897, Thomson presented his findings at the Royal Institution in London. He argued that cathode rays were composed of negatively charged particles much smaller than atoms. This announcement preceded the classic mass and charge experiment, establishing the concept of subatomic particles.
Sources
- J. J. Thomson Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-06
- Royal Institution Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-29
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.