A microscope allowed the team to peer into this chamber and observe the droplets clearly. With the electric field turned off, the team measured the terminal velocity of the droplet as it fell solely under gravity.
Millikan Oil Drop Experiment: Proving the Elementary Charge Unit
602 times 10 to the power of negative 19 coulombs, earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1923 and cemented the experiment's place as a cornerstone of modern physics. Accuracy, Criticism, and Modern Replication.
Once the mass was known and the droplet was re-suspended with the field on, the charge could be calculated using the balance voltage and the known distance between the plates. This allowed them to calculate the mass of the droplet using Stokes' law, which describes the drag force on a sphere moving through a viscous fluid.
Proof of Elementary Charge Through the Millikan Oil Drop Experiment
Millikan correctly interpreted this as the fundamental unit of electric charge, the charge carried by a single electron. By observing tiny droplets of oil suspended between two metal plates, the team provided the first direct, undeniable proof that electric charge is quantized, coming in discrete units rather than a continuous flow.
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