Mass-to-charge ratio refers to the molecular or atomic mass number and "z" to the charge number of the ion; however, the quantity of "m"/"z" is dimensionless by definition. An ion of 100 atomic mass units ("m" = 100) carrying two charges ("z" = 2) will be observed at "m"/"z" = 50. In the 19th century, the mass-to-charge ratios of some ions were measured by electrochemical methods. In 1897, the mass-to-charge ratio of the electron was first measured by J. J. Thomson. By doing this, he showed that the electron was in fact a particle with a mass and a charge, and that
Wave–particle duality invention of batteries, electric motors, dynamos, and arc lamps). More importantly, the intimate relation between electric charge and electromagnetism had been well documented following the discoveries of Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell. Since electromagnetism was known to be a wave generated by a changing electric or magnetic field (a continuous, wave-like entity itself) an atomic/particle description of electricity and charge was a non sequitur. Furthermore, classical electrodynamics was not the only classical theory rendered incomplete. In 1901, Max Planck published an analysis that succeeded in reproducing the observed spectrum of light emitted by a glowing object. To accomplish this,