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marshall4
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What was his experiment and what did he find?
Millikan's Experiment, also known as the Oil Drop Experiment, is an experiment conducted by physicist Robert A. Millikan in 1909 to determine the charge of an electron. It involved observing the motion of oil droplets in an electric field to measure the fundamental unit of charge.
Millikan's Experiment is important because it provided the first accurate measurement of the charge of an electron, which is a fundamental constant in physics. It also helped to confirm the existence of individual electrons and their charge, which was a major contribution to the understanding of atomic and subatomic particles.
Millikan's experiment involved suspending tiny oil droplets in a chamber between two charged plates. By adjusting the electric field between the plates, he was able to measure the downward force of gravity and the upward force of the electric field on the droplets. From these measurements, he could calculate the charge of the droplets and determine the charge of an individual electron.
Millikan's Experiment determined the charge of an electron to be 1.602 x 10^-19 coulombs, with an uncertainty of only 0.3%. This value is still accepted and used in modern physics and has been an important factor in many experiments and theories.
Millikan's Experiment had a significant impact on the scientific community as it provided the first accurate measurement of the charge of an electron and confirmed its existence as a fundamental particle. It also opened up new possibilities for further research and discoveries in the field of subatomic particles, leading to advancements in fields such as quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, and atomic structure.