= Townsend discharge
{wiki=Townsend_discharge}
Townsend discharge refers to the phenomenon in gas physics and electrical engineering where an electrical discharge occurs in a gas due to the ionization of gas particles. Named after the physicist J. S. Townsend, who studied the behavior of electric discharges in gases, this process is fundamental to understanding how gases can conduct electricity under certain conditions. In the Townsend discharge process, when a sufficiently high voltage is applied across two electrodes in a gas, free electrons are accelerated towards the positive electrode.
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