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How is the charge present on an electron determined by Mullikan's oil drop experiment?​

Ayush , 4 Years ago
Grade 11
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sree lakshmi

Last Activity: 4 Years ago

In 1909, Robert Millikan and Harvey Fletcher conducted the oil drop experiment to determine the charge of an electron. They suspended tiny charged droplets of oil between two metal electrodes by balancing downward gravitational force with upward drag and electric forces. The density of the oil was known, so Millikan and Fletcher could determine the droplets’ masses from their observed radii (since from the radii they could calculate the volume and thus, the mass). Using the known electric field and the values of gravity and mass, Millikan and Fletcher determined the charge on oil droplets in mechanical equilibrium. By repeating the experiment, they confirmed that the charges were all multiples of some fundamental value. They calculated this value to be 1.5924 × 10−19Coulombs (C), which is within 1% of the currently accepted value of 1.602176487 × 10−19 C. They proposed that this was the charge of a single electron.

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