Final answer:
J.J. Thomson's cathode ray tube experiment involved the use of discharge tubes to demonstrate that electrons are particles with a specific charge-to-mass ratio, leading to his 'plum pudding' model of the atom. His work was pivotal in the understanding of atomic structure and earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Step-by-step explanation:
The experiment that J.J. Thomson conducted to develop his model was known as the cathode ray tube experiment. Thomson used differing gases in discharge tubes, as well as methods such as the photoelectric effect, to release electrons from atoms. His critical observation was that no matter the gas used, the properties of the electron were consistent, suggesting it was a subatomic particle. He measured the ratio of an electron's charge to its mass and found that cathode rays were deflected by electric and magnetic fields in a way that indicated they had a negative charge.
Thomson's observations led to his "plum pudding" model of the atom, wherein the electrons were spread throughout a positively charged substance, similar to plums in a pudding. His model was later replaced by Ernest Rutherford's nuclear model of the atom as a result of Rutherford's gold foil experiment, which demonstrated that the atom has a dense, positively charged nucleus with electrons orbiting around it. For his groundbreaking work, Thomson received the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics.