Recent content by JoJo

All great points. It will take some time for me to read and digest this information but I will do it and report back. I am really blown away by your kindness! It is so nice of you all to take the time to read, think about and respond to my post. Thank you!

Sorry Zz, but I think I am missing your point and I really want to understand what you are saying. How is heating tungsten to 2200 C with concentrated sunlight different than heating it to 2200 C with electric current.

Got it, I think I need to do a little more research. Thanks again for the input. I will read up on it and report back. I would certainly appreciate any references or links you could forward. JoJo

Thank you both for your input, I really appreciate it! Berkeman, I completely understand what you are saying but it is difficult for me to believe that the process would not capture at least some part of the energy required to free the electrons (work function). For tungsten this is about 4.5...

I know typically the hot cathode of an electron gun or vacuum tube is heated either directly or indirectly by electric resistance heating. What if the tungsten (cathode) were heated by another means, say focused sunlight? Electrons would still boil off through thermionic emission. If a small...

Great, thank you for the quick reply!

Physics Forum, how exciting! I look forward to becoming a valued member. I am a professional engineer and I make a living designing and building custom machinery and automation. Occasionally, when time allows, I work on projects that push my knowledge of physics. These are more personal...