How fast do CRTs shoot electrons?

Ralphonsicus

Thanks.

zahero_2007

It must be less than the speed of light.

Ralphonsicus

Yes I know that because electrons have mass and therefore (according to special relativity) they cannot reach light speed. But that wasn't the question, the question was HOW FAST do CRTs shoot electrons (on average)?

QuantumPion

With a quick bit of googling I found that the voltage of a CRT TV cathode is 400 V. Therefore an electron accelerated will obtain 400 eV of energy. The speed of an 400 eV electron is 1.18*10^7 m/s or ~4% of the speed of light.

Hepth

In a large tube-TV the accelerating voltage the electron feels is about 25,000 Volts, so a rough non-relativistic approximation says that will be about 1/3 the speed of light.

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/MichelleHong.shtml

QuantumPion

Oops, dunno how I came up with 400 V. Maybe that's for a ye olde oscilloscope or something.

Ralphonsicus

Haha it's grand, thanks all.