What are the sources of error in Millikan oil drop experiment?
If the drop drifts slowly downward between the uncharged plates, a residual charge in the plates is affecting fall rate in the oil drops with a small charge. It appears that the main source of error in this experiment was random, that the errors were mostly cancelled out by taking the mean of several values.
What was the controversy surrounding Millikan’s oil drop experiment results?
Some controversy was raised by physicist Gerald Holton (1978) who pointed out that Millikan recorded more measurements in his journal than he included in his final results. Holton suggested these data points were omitted from the large set of oil drops measured in his experiments without apparent reason.
How does this source affect the oil droplets in the oil mist chamber?
55 second suggested clip0:461:58Millikan’s oil drop experiment to determine charge of an electronYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipX-rays were passed through the chamber to ionize the air inside on colliding with gaseous ions theseMoreX-rays were passed through the chamber to ionize the air inside on colliding with gaseous ions these oil droplets acquire charge.
What are the assumptions made in the oil drop experiment?
Millikan conducted an experiment that allowed him to determine the charge of an oil drop. According to his assumption all charges on oil drops must be a multiple of the electron charge.
How did Millikan calculate the charge of an electron?
Millikan’s apparatus contained an electric field created between a parallel pair of metal plates, which were held apart by insulating material. Therefore, the charge on the oil drop was calculated using formula Q = m⋅gE m ⋅ g E Millikan found that the charge of a single electron was 1.6 x 10-19 C.
How was the magnitude of the field in Millikan’s oil drop experiment determined?
The force on any electric charge in an electric field is equal to the product of the charge and the electric field. Millikan was able to measure both the amount of electric force and magnitude of electric field on the tiny charge of an isolated oil droplet and from the data determine the magnitude of the charge itself.
What was Millikan wrong about?
Millikan’s reported value for the elementary charge, 1.592 x 10-19 coulombs, is slightly lower than the currently accepted value of 1.602 x 10-19 C, probably because Millikan used an incorrect value for the viscosity of air.
What was the conclusion of Millikan’s oil drop experiment?
Milliken’s Oil Drop Experiment Conclusion The charge over any oil droplet is always an integral value of e (1.6 x 10-19). Hence, the conclusion of Millikens Oil Drop Experiment is that the charge is said to be quantized, i.e. the charge on any particle will always be an integral multiple of e.
What was the conclusion of Millikan oil drop experiment?
Thus, Millikan’s Oil Drop Experiment concludes that the charge is said to be quantized, which means that the charge on any particle will be an integral multiple of e always. Millikan discovered the charge on a single electron using a uniform electric field between the oil drops and two parallel charged plates.
What did the Millikan experiment determine?
Millikan oil-drop experiment, first direct and compelling measurement of the electric charge of a single electron. Millikan was able to measure both the amount of electric force and magnitude of electric field on the tiny charge of an isolated oil droplet and from the data determine the magnitude of the charge itself.
What force causes the oil drops to fall?
Under the influence of gravity and air resistance, some of the oil droplets fall through a small hole cut in the top metal plate.
Why Lycopodium powder is used in oil drop experiment?
Two uses of Lycopodium Powder as. used in oil drop experiment It enables the boundary of the oil to be seen clearly. Weakens the surface area of the oil and the water so that the oil spreads to the maximum diameter.