Reliving JJ Thompson's Cathode Ray Tube Experiment

Here I pass a small neodynium magnet along a lit gas discharge tube.  The gas moves as a result, showing that the substance is made of either protons or electrons.  If I had a negatively charged plate instead of a magnet, we would see that the gas moves away from it, showing that the beam is negatively charged.

(One small mistake in my narration at 1:53- I say that "they would assume that neutrons would be affected by a magnet."  I meant that they would NOT assume this.)

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