Franck-Hertz experiment

Franck-Hertz experiment, in physics, first experimental verification of the existence of discrete energy states in atoms, performed (1914) by the German-born physicists James Franck and Gustav Hertz.

Franck and Hertz directed low-energy electrons through a gas enclosed in an electron tube. As the energy of the electrons was slowly increased, a certain critical electron energy was reached at which the electron stream made a change from almost undisturbed passage through the gas to nearly complete stoppage. The gas atoms were able to absorb the energy of the electrons only when it reached a certain critical value, indicating that within the gas atoms themselves the atomic electrons make an abrupt transition to a discrete higher energy level. As long as the bombarding electrons have less than this discrete amount of energy, no transition is possible and no energy is absorbed from the stream of electrons. When they have this precise energy, they lose it all at once in collisions to atomic electrons, which store the energy by being promoted to a higher energy level.