Measuring the charge on

the electron
AT O M I C ST RUCT URE
Measuring the charge on
the electron
G I n the early part of the 20th century,
Ameri can physi ci st Robert Mi lli kan
constructed an experi ment to
accurately determi ne the electri c
charge carri ed by a si ngle electron.
G Mi lli kan sapparatusconsi sted of two
hori zontal platesabout 20 cm i n
di ameter and 1.5 cm apart, wi th a
small hole i n the center of the upper
plate.
G At the begi nni ng of the experi ment, an
atomi zer sprayed a fi ne mi st of oi l on
to the upper plate.
G Asa result of gravi ty, a droplet would
passthrough the hole i n the plate i nto
a chamber that wasi oni zed by
radiation. Electronsfrom the ai r
attached themselvesto the droplet,
causi ng i t to acqui re a negati ve charge.
A li ght source i llumi nated the droplet,
maki ng i t appear asa pi npoi nt of li ght.
Mi lli kan then measured i tsdownward
veloci ty by ti mi ng i tsfall through a
known di stance.
G Mi lli kan measured hundredsof
dropletsand found that the charge on
them wasalwaysa si mple multi ple of a
basi c uni t, 1.6 x 10
-19
coulomb. From
thi she concluded that the charge on
an electron wasnumeri cally 1.6 x 10
-19
coulomb.
electron
radiation
Key words
18
Millikans apparatus
c
d
f
h
b
a
g
e
j i
a se a le d c o n ta i n e r
b a to m i ze r
c o i l d ro p le ts
d c h a rg e d m e ta l p la te +
e c h a rg e d o i l d ro p le ts
f li g h t so u rc e
g v i e wi n g m i c ro sc o p e
h c h a rg e d m e ta l p la te )
i i o n i zi n g ra d i a ti o n
j p o we r so u rc e

D
i
a
g
r
a
m
V
i
s
u
a
l
I
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n
L
t
d
.