Johannes Stark

Facts

Johannes Stark

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Johannes Stark

Born: 15 April 1874, Schickenhof, Germany

Died: 21 June 1957, Traunstein, West Germany (now Germany)

Affiliation at the time of the award: Greifswald University, Greifswald, Germany

Prize motivation: "for his discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields."

Prize share: 1/1

Work

If an electrical charge is placed between two metal plates in a glass tube filled with rarefied gas, charged atoms - ions - rush through the tube at high speed. Johannes Stark studied the light that the ions emitted. In 1905 he showed that a Doppler effect occurred: the frequency of the light was higher for light emitted in the direction of the atoms' movement that for light emitted in the opposite direction. In 1914 Johannes Stark also discovered the Stark effect: lines in a spectrum are split up into several lines under the influence of an electrical field.

To cite this section
MLA style: Johannes Stark – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2018. Mon. 12 Nov 2018. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1919/stark/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Learn more

Nobel Prizes 2018

This year 12 new laureates have been awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Their work and discoveries range from cancer therapy and laser physics to developing proteins that can solve humankind’s chemical problems. The work of the 2018 Nobel Laureates also included combating war crimes, as well as integrating innovation and climate with economic growth. Find out more.
Nobel prizes burgundy 2018

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.