The forces acting on oil drops are the electric force and the gravitational force
, and while the voltage is turned on, the droplet is rising
Further explanation
The oil drop experiment conducted by Millikan aims to find out the electron charge, which is part of the elementary particles of the atom
In this experiment drops of oil are sprayed into the area with an adjustable voltage
This drop of oil enters the hole and enters the space bounded by an electrically charged plate.
The top plate is positively charged while the lower plate is negatively charged
Oil drops absorb negative charge from the X-ray source which emits ionizing radiation
Under certain potential difference conditions, oil drops have equilibrium
.
Two forces work on this oil drop
- 1. An electric force that pushes droplets upwards
- 2. The gravitational force that pulls oil drops down
When the voltage is turned on (an electric field arises) the oil drops will move upward away from the negative plate, get a repulsive force, whereas if the voltage is turned off (no electric field) the oil drops will fall due to the gravitational force
By adjusting the potential difference between the 2 plates, and indirectly there is an equilibrium of the 2 forces acting on the drops, then the oil drop charge can be determined.
The oil drops charge are obtained from the potential difference and the mass of the drops (obtained from the density of oil and the volume of drops, which it's radius was obtained from a microscope observation)
From this experiment, Milikan discovered an electron charge of 1,602.10⁻¹⁹ coulombs
Learn more
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Keywords: Milikan, drop oil, electron charge
