Question

Before the advent of solid-state electronics, vacuum tubes were widely used in radios and other devices. A simple type of vacuum tube known as a diode consists essentially of two electrodes within a highly evacuated enclosure. One electrode, the cathode, is maintained at a high temperature and emits electrons from its surface. A potential difference of a few hundred volts is maintained between the cathode and the other electrode, known as the anode, with the anode at the higher potential. (Figure 1).Suppose a diode consists of a cylindrical cathode with a radius of 6.200×10−2 cm , mounted coaxially within a cylindrical anode with a radius of 0.5580 cm . The potential difference between the anode and cathode is 370 V . An electron leaves the surface of the cathode with zero initial speed (vinitial=0). Find its speed vfinal when it strikes the anode.

Answer 1