The Franck-Hertz Experiment

In 1914, James Franck and Gustav Hertz performed an experiment which demonstrated the existence of excited states in mercury atoms, helping to confirm the quantum theory which predicted that electrons occupied only discrete, quantized energy states. Electrons were accelerated by a voltage toward a positively charged grid in a glass envelope filled with mercury vapor. Past the grid was a collection plate held at a small negative voltage with respect to the grid. The values of accelerating voltage where the current dropped gave a measure of the energy necessary to force an electron to an excited state.

The Franck-Hertz Experiment

Electrons are accelerated in the Franck-Hertz apparatus and the collected current rises with accelerated voltage. As the Franck-Hertz data shows, when the accelerating voltage reaches 4.9 volts, the current sharply drops, indicating the sharp onset of a new phenomenon which takes enough energy away from the electrons that they cannot reach the collector. This drop is attributed to inelastic collisions between the accelerated electrons and atomic electrons in the mercury atoms. The sudden onset suggests that the mercury electrons cannot accept energy until it reaches the threshold for elevating them to an excited state. This 4.9 volt excited state corresponds to a strong line in the ultraviolet emission spectrum of mercury at 254 nm (a 4.9eV photon). Drops in the collected current occur at multiples of 4.9 volts since an accelerated electron which has 4.9 eV of energy removed in a collision can be re-accelerated to produce other such collisions at multiples of 4.9 volts. This experiment was strong confirmation of the idea of quantized atomic energy levels.