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- How exactly did Ramsauer and Townsend explain their data in their 1921 experiment about resonant transmission?
Dear all,
I'm writing an article about the didactics of teaching quantum physics, and in particular the phenomenon of resonant transmission, as discovered by Ramsauer and Townsend in 1920. The phenomenon was used in a Dutch physics exam in 2023, and in it the question states
"To explain the effect Ramsauer and Townsend described the electron not as a particle, but as a wave with corresponding De Broglie wavelength."
But this was 4 years before De Broglie introduced his wave hypothesis, so I'd say this is anachronistic. But it made me curious how exactly Ramsauer and Townsend accounted for their findings. Townsend's paper "The Motion of Electrons in Gases" doesn't mention waves anywhere, and I also noted that the paper is dated 1913 (instead of 1920). Ramsauer's paper "Uber dem Wirkungsquerschnitt des Gasmolekule gegenüber langsamen Elektronen. I Fortsetzung" also doesn't mention any possible explanations, but I think the paper was published in different parts, so maybe it's in some part I couldn't access.
So my question is: does anyone know more about the history of the Ramsauer-Townsend effect, and if somebody try to explain it with waves before De Broglie's publication in 1924?
References:
-"The Motion of Electrons in Gases", Townsend and Bailey
-"Uber dem Wirkungsquerschnitt des Gasmolekule gegenüber langsamen Elektronen", Ramsauer
- "Ramsauer en Townsend", Dutch Physics Examen 2023
(https://natuurkundeuitgelegd.nl/examenopgaven.php?examenopgave=ramsauertownsend)
-Master Quantum Mechanics, Zwiebach
I'm writing an article about the didactics of teaching quantum physics, and in particular the phenomenon of resonant transmission, as discovered by Ramsauer and Townsend in 1920. The phenomenon was used in a Dutch physics exam in 2023, and in it the question states
"To explain the effect Ramsauer and Townsend described the electron not as a particle, but as a wave with corresponding De Broglie wavelength."
But this was 4 years before De Broglie introduced his wave hypothesis, so I'd say this is anachronistic. But it made me curious how exactly Ramsauer and Townsend accounted for their findings. Townsend's paper "The Motion of Electrons in Gases" doesn't mention waves anywhere, and I also noted that the paper is dated 1913 (instead of 1920). Ramsauer's paper "Uber dem Wirkungsquerschnitt des Gasmolekule gegenüber langsamen Elektronen. I Fortsetzung" also doesn't mention any possible explanations, but I think the paper was published in different parts, so maybe it's in some part I couldn't access.
So my question is: does anyone know more about the history of the Ramsauer-Townsend effect, and if somebody try to explain it with waves before De Broglie's publication in 1924?
References:
-"The Motion of Electrons in Gases", Townsend and Bailey
-"Uber dem Wirkungsquerschnitt des Gasmolekule gegenüber langsamen Elektronen", Ramsauer
- "Ramsauer en Townsend", Dutch Physics Examen 2023
(https://natuurkundeuitgelegd.nl/examenopgaven.php?examenopgave=ramsauertownsend)
-Master Quantum Mechanics, Zwiebach
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