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Concept
Electron mass
Summary
In particle physics, the electron mass (symbol: me) is the mass of a stationary electron, also known as the invariant mass of the electron. It is one of the fundamental constants of physics. It has a value of about 9.109e−31kilograms or about 5.486e−4daltons, which has an energy-equivalent of about 8.187e−14joules or about
The term "rest mass" is sometimes used because in special relativity the mass of an object can be said to increase in a frame of reference that is moving relative to that object (or if the object is moving in a given frame of reference). Most practical measurements are carried out on moving electrons. If the electron is moving at a relativistic velocity, any measurement must use the correct expression for mass. Such correction becomes substantial for electrons accelerated by voltages of over 100kV.
For example, the relativistic expression for the total energy, E, of an electron moving at speed v is
where
c is the speed of light;
γ is the Lorentz factor,
me is the "rest mass", or more simply just the "mass" of the electron.
This quantity me is frame invariant and velocity independent. However, some texts group the Lorentz factor with the mass factor to define a new quantity called the relativistic mass, mrelativistic = γme.
Since the electron mass determines a number of observed effects in atomic physics, there are potentially many ways to determine its mass from an experiment, if the values of other physical constants are already considered known.
Historically, the mass of the electron was determined directly from combining two measurements. The mass-to-charge ratio of the electron was first estimated by Arthur Schuster in 1890 by measuring the deflection of "cathode rays" due to a known magnetic field in a cathode ray tube. Seven years later J. J. Thomson showed that cathode rays consist of streams of particles, to be called electrons, and made more precise measurements of their mass-to-charge ratio again using a cathode ray tube.
The second measurement was of the charge of the electron.
Official source
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