Abstract
THE name “negative electron” was applied to the elementary particle of negative electricity after the experimental evidence for the variation of its mass with velocity had generally convinced physicists that its whole inertia was due to its electric charge. This meaning of the term “electron7rdquo; was in accord with Dr. Johnstone Stoney's original use of the word to denote the elementary unit of electric charge. With the introduction of the principle of relativity it became clear that the variation of mass with velocity was no characteristic attribute of electrical inertia, and that therefore we have no proof that the negative electron's inertia is wholly electromagnetic in origin. In fact, the investigations of Abraham, Webster, and others have shown that there must be some mass present other than that due to the electron's electric field. If we abide by Dr. Stoney's original meaning of the word, it is therefore more than doubtful whether we are justified in calling this negatively electrified particle of matter an electron. Nevertheless, the term is now so well established in the literature that we use “electron” to denote this elementary particle regardless of our view concerning the origin of its mass.
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COMPTON, A. The Elementary Particle of Positive Electricity. Nature 106, 828 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/106828a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/106828a0
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