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INSIDE A TUBE
All modern vacuum tubes are based on the concept of the Audion--a heated "cathode"
boils off electrons into a vacuum; they pass through a grid (or many grids), which control
the electron current; the electrons then strike the anode (plate) and are absorbed. By
designing the cathode, grid(s) and plate properly, the tube will make a small AC signal
voltage into a larger AC voltage, thus amplifying it. (By comparison, today's transistor
makes use of electric fields in a crystal which has been specially processed--a much
less obvious kind of amplifier, though much more important in today's world.)