I read they discoverd it by accident.Meir Achuz said:Their experiment followed (and I believe was inspired by) de Broglie's 1924 PhD thesis proposing the wave nature of the motion.
Electron scattering is a phenomenon in which electrons are deflected from their original path when they encounter an obstacle or material, similar to how light is scattered when it passes through a medium.
Electron scattering was first observed in the late 19th century by British physicist J.J. Thomson during his experiments with cathode ray tubes. He noticed that the rays emitted from the cathode were deflected when a magnet was placed near the tube, indicating the presence of negatively charged particles (electrons).
The explanation for electron scattering was provided by Danish physicist Niels Bohr in 1913 through his atomic model. He proposed that electrons orbit the nucleus of an atom in discrete energy levels, and when they encounter an obstacle or material, they can be deflected from their path due to the repulsive forces between the negatively charged electrons and the obstacle.
Electron scattering is important in understanding the behavior of matter at the atomic level and has applications in various fields such as material science, nuclear physics, and medical imaging. It also plays a crucial role in technologies such as electron microscopy and particle accelerators.
Yes, electron scattering has been observed in other particles such as protons and neutrons. In fact, the study of electron scattering played a significant role in the discovery of the proton's substructure and the development of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the theory that explains the strong nuclear force.