Canal rays, also known as anode rays, are streams of positively charged particles (ions) that move towards the cathode in a gas discharge tube. These rays were discovered by German physicist Eugen Goldstein in 1886.
Canal rays are produced when electrons in a gas discharge tube, filled with low-pressure gas, are accelerated by an electric field. As these electrons collide with gas atoms, they knock out additional electrons, leaving behind positively charged ions. These ions form the canal rays, which move in the opposite direction of cathode rays (negatively charged electrons).
Unlike cathode rays, which consist of electrons, canal rays are composed of ions whose mass depends on the gas used in the tube, typically hydrogen, in which case the particles are protons.
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