Robert Milikan and Havey Fletcher originally performed the Millikan oil drop experiment in 1999. The intent was to determine the magnitude of electric charge that is present on oil drops in an oil mist. Simply put, tiny droplets of oil were suspended in between two metal parallel plates. These plates had a uniform electric field between them that was created by applying potential difference through the plates. A droplet of oil would eventually be singled out, as manipulating the voltage would cause all of the other drops to fall. This process was repeated over and over, and Robert and Harvey realized that the value of charge on the oil drop was always multiples of 1.602*10^-19 Coulombs. This value is called the elementary charge, a fundamental value in physics calculations, still used today. Many physics textbooks are created with questions in them referencing the Millikan oil drop experiment, asking for different values. Most significantly, these results play a part in proving that charge is quantized.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Millikan oil-drop experiment". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Dec. 2019,
https://www.britannica.com/science/Millikan-oil-drop-experiment. Accessed 19 September 2021.
Lumin. “Millikan’s Oil Drop Experiment”.(n.d)
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introchem/chapter/millikans-oil-drop-experiment/. Accessed 19, September 2021.
Commentaires