= Gustav Ludwig Hertz
{c}
{tag=Physicist}
{title2=1887–1975}
= Gustav Hertz
{c}
{synonym}
= G. Hertz
{c}
{synonym}
<Gustav Ludwig Hertz> and <James Franck> accelerated <electrons> through <Mercury> vapor and measured the collected <electric current> as the accelerating <voltage> changed. Repeated features in that curve indicate a preferred loss of <kinetic energy> in <inelastic collisions>. An <electron> must first acquire enough <energy> to excite the relevant atomic transition; further acceleration can enable another such collision. The <Franck-Hertz experiment> therefore connects an electrical current–voltage measurement with discrete atomic excitation <energies>.<Über Zusammenstöße zwischen Elektronen und den Molekülen des Quecksilberdampfes und die Ionisierungsspannung desselben by James Franck and Gustav Ludwig Hertz>[Original collision experiment: accelerating voltage, collected current and characteristic energy loss]{ref}
Physics.https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Hertz_Gustav/[Independent professional profile]{ref}
\Image[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Gustav_Hertz.jpg]
{title=Portrait of <Gustav Ludwig Hertz>}
{width=240}
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