How did J.J. Thomson contribute to the atomic theory?

1 Answer

Thomson's experiments with cathode ray tubes helped him to discover the electron.

This ushered in a model of atomic structure referred to as the plum pudding model. I like to think of it like a sphere shaped chocolate chip cookie since plum pudding is not super popular in the US.

The cookie dough (they didn't know what it was yet) is positively charged and the chocolate chips (electrons) are negatively charged and scattered randomly throughout the cookie (atom). The positive and negative charges cancel producing a neutral atom.