1

Lk 3 MILLIkAN LkLkIMLN1

Experiment Ub|ective
1 ueLermlne Lhe elecLrlcal charge of Lhe elecLron afLer Mllllkan and demonsLraLlng Lhe
quanLum naLure of Lhe charge measurlng Lhe suspenslon volLage and Lhe falllng speed
2 ueLermlne Lhe elecLrlcal charge of Lhe elecLron afLer Mllllkan and demonsLraLlng Lhe
quanLum naLure of Lhe charge measurlng Lhe rlslng speed and Lhe falllng speed
Apparatus
1 Mllllkan apparaLus
2 Mllllkan power supply unlL
3 LlecLronlc sLopclock
4 ConnecLlng lead
3 alr of cables



2


1heory
1hls experlmenL ls one of Lhe mosL fundamenLal of Lhe experlmenLs ln Lhe
undergraduaLe laboraLory 1he experlmenLal apparaLus ls paLLerned afLer Lhe orlglnal
apparaLus made and used by 8A Mllllkan Lo show LhaL elecLrlc charge exlsLs as lnLegral
mulLlples of e" Lhe charge on a slngle elecLron PlsLorlcally Lhls experlmenL ranks as one of Lhe
greaLesL experlmenLs of modern physlcs llnely aLomlzed oll dropleLs enLer Lhe homogenous
fleld lndlvldual dropleLs recelve a charge of Lhe value of C due Lo frlcLlonal elecLrlclLy Such a
dropleL wlLh a mass m
oll
ls sub[ecL Lo Lahe lollowlng forces ln an elecLrlc fleld wlLh a sLrengLh L

1he elecLrlcal force C L
WelghL m
oll
g

Assumlng LhaL Lhe dropleL ls ln alrLhe followlng forces also acL

O 1he llfLlng force m
L
g whereby m
L
ls Lhe mass of alr dlsplaced by Lhe dropleL
O 1he SLokes' frlcLlonal force 6nrvlf Lhe dropleL moves relaLlve Lo Lhe surroundlng alr

lalllng veloclLy ln fleldfree space deLermlnlng Lhe dropleL radlus r lf an oll dropleL falls ln a
fleldfree space aL a consLanL veloclLy v
1
Lhe welghL and Lhe opposed values of llfLlng force
and Lhe opposed values of llfLlng force and SLokes' frlcLlonal force [usL cancel each oLher
ouL

m
oll
g m
L
g 6nrv
1
r0
where m
oll
m
L
m we obLaln
mg 6nrv
1
r0

1he welghL reduced by Lhe llfLlng force

Where r
oll
r
L
r

We obLaln v
pg
6nrv
1
r 0
1he volume of Lhe dropleL ls v
%

r
3
lrom Lhls we can calculaLe Lhe radlus of Lhe oll dropleL Lo be

rV %nv
1
/2 rg

lf a volLage u ls applled Lo Lhe Lhe plaLe capaclLor wlLh Lhe plaLes a dlsLance d aparL Lhe dropleL
rlses aL a consLanL veloclLy v
2
1he welghL reduced by Lhe llfLlng forceLhe SLokes' frlcLlon and
Lhe elecLrlc fleld [usL cancel each oLher ouL

mg + 6nrv
2
r CL 0
3

1he charge C of an oll dropleL ls deLermlned ln accordance wlLh Lwo meLhods uslng Lhe Mllllkan
apparaLus

O 1he equlllbrlum meLhod
O 1he dynamlc meLhod

ln Lhe case of Lhe equlllbrlum meLhod a volLage ls applled Lo Lhe capaclLor make Lhe dropleL
floaL 1he veloclLy v
1
ls Lhe measured aL whlch Lhe dropleL falls when Lhe volLage ls swlLched off
AfLer lnserLlng equaLlon and Lhe resulL ls obLaln


ata]kesu|ts

O or equ|||br|um method

u130v x
A
10 skL

1|me taken (s) Sca|e |v|s|ons(m)
227 333x 10
4

1076 333x 10
4
1388 333x 10
4
732 333x 10
4
367 333x 10
4
Average 762 333x 10
4



O or dynam|c method

u600v x
1
20 skL x
2
20 skL


1|me taken(s)


Sca|e |v|s|ons(m)
t
1
t
2
231 1221 1067 x 10
4
949 2303 1067 x 10
4

1309 4377 1067 x 10
4

337 1143 1067 x 10
4

378 2913 1067 x 10
4

Average 6488 23926 1067 x 10
4

4

ata Ana|ys|s]Lrror Ana|ys|s
O lor equlllbrlum meLhod

1erm LhaL we wlll use ln Lhe equaLlon would be

s average dlsLance
x scale
L average Llme
v

veloclLy

C elecLrlcal charge


8y uslng formula

s
x
1.875
x 10
4
m

we geL Lhe average dlsLance of

s
10.0
1.875
x 10
4
m 33 x 10
4
m

WlLh L

762s we can calculaLe Lhe veloclLy v


v

33x10
4
693 x 10
3
ms
1
762s

1herefore by uslng formula

C
Vv
3
U
(2 x 10
10
) As

we can geL Lhe quanLlLy of Lhe elecLrlcal charge of

C v (693 x 10
3
)
3
m (2 x 10
10
) A s 891 x 10
19
As
130


8y uslng formula

uncerLalnLy AC
ThcorctIcaI vaIuc - ExpcrImcntaI vaIuc
ThcorctIcaI vaIuc
x 100
3

we can calculaLe Lhe uncerLalnLy of Lhe elecLrlcal charge wlLh

1heoreLlcal value C
L
1602 x 10
19
As
LxperlmenLal value C
e
891 x 10
19
As

1herefore


uncerLalnLy AC 1602 x 10
19
891 x 10
19
As x 100
1602 x 10
19
As


436

AC (891 x 10
19
7308)























6

O or dynam|c method


1erm LhaL we wlll use ln Lhe equaLlon would be

s average dlsLance
x scale
L
1
average Llme for sLopclock A
L
2
average Llme for sLopclock 8
v
1
veloclLy for L
1
v
2

veloclLy

for L
2
C elecLrlcal charge


8y uslng formula

s
x
1.875
x 10
4
m

we geL Lhe average dlsLance of

s
20.0
1.875
x 10
4
m 106 x 10
3
m

WlLh L
1
648 s we can calculaLe Lhe veloclLy v
1

v
1
106 x 10
3
163 x 10
4
m s
1
648s


WlLh L
2
23926 s we can calculaLe Lhe veloclLy v
2

v
2
106 x 10
3
443 x 10
3
m s
1
23926

1herefore by uslng formula

C (v
1
+ v
2
)
Vv
1
U
(2 x 10
10
) As

we can geL Lhe quanLlLy of Lhe elecLrlcal charge of


7



C (163 x 10
4
m s
1
+ 443 x 10
3
m s
1
) v163 x 10
4
(2 x 10
10
) As
600

896 x 10
19

As

8y uslng formula

uncerLalnLy AC
ThcorctIcaI vaIuc - ExpcrImcntaI vaIuc
ThcorctIcaI vaIuc
x 100


we can calculaLe Lhe uncerLalnLy of Lhe elecLrlcal charge wlLh

1heoreLlcal value C
L
1602 x 10
19
As
LxperlmenLal value C
e
896 x 10
19
As

1herefore

uncerLalnLy AC 1602 x 10
19
896 x 10
19
x 100
1602x10
19


439

AC (896 x 10
19
As 439)










8

|scuss|on

ln Lhls experlmenL of Mllllkan's oll drop conslsLs Lhe observaLlon wlLh a mlcroscope of
mlnuLe lndlvldual parLlcles of sub[ecL carrylng shabby elecLrlc charges and movlng under Lhe
Lwofold lnfluence of gravlLy and of a fleld dlrecLed verLlcally upward Mllllkan worked wlLh oll
dropleLs wlLh a dlameLer abouL 10
4
cm 1he advanLage of oll dropleLs as compared wlLh
parLlcles of oLher subsLances ls LhaL Lhey do noL change ln slze owlng Lo evaporaLlon
We observed LhaL values of Llme for downward moLlon L
1
were always had some
dlfferences from values of Llme for upward moLlon L
2
from dynamlc meLhod's daLa

8oLh values
of L
1
and L
2
vary lnLermlLLenLly from Llme Lo Llme and we flnd LhaL values of L
1
were always
greaLer Lhan values of L
2
due Lo colllslons beLween Lhe poslLlvely charged oll dropleL and alr lons
resulLlng ln an alLeraLlon ln Lhe charge of Lhe movlng parLlcle When a negaLlve lon ls Laken up
Lhe upward moLlon ls reLarded and hence Lhe value of Llme

ls lncreased whereas a decrease ln
Lhe value of Llme ls due Lo Lhe addlLlon of a poslLlve lon or Lhe loss of a negaLlve lon Cn Lhe
oLher hand ln our roughly calculaLlon whlch are noL shown ln daLa analysls we found LhaL lL
was mosL slgnlflcanL LhaL for a Llme obLalned from Lhe experlmenL produced veloclLy changed
by almosL Lhe same amounL each Llme
1he value of elecLrlcal charge C LhaL we obLalned from Lhe experlmenL for dynamlc
meLhod and equlllbrlum meLhod are 891 x 10
19
As and 896 x 10
19
As Powever Lhe
LheoreLlcal value of elecLrlcal charge C
L
ls 1602 x 10
19
As Pere we could see LhaL Lhere are
dlfferenL beLween Lhe value experlmenL for boLh meLhod of elecLrlcal charge and Lhe
LheoreLlcal value
1hls ls because of several mlsLakes LhaL be lnLenLlonal or unlnLenLlonal Among Lhese
are sysLemlc errors and parallel error made by Lhe experlmenLer Lo see Lhe parLlcle Some precauLlons
sLeps should be Laken when dolng experlmenL ls experlmenLer should ensure LhaL Lhelr eyes
are perpendlcular wlLh Lhe mlcroscope whlle make an observaLlon on Lhe oll dropleL and Laklng
Lhe readlng 8esldes Lhe Lwo boreholes ln Lhe acryllc glass cover Lhrough whlch Lhe oll dropleLs
are sprayed may become clogged wlLh oll from Llme Lo Llme so LhaL no dropleLs can enLer Lhe
chamber 1hls can be remedled by plerclng Lhe borehole uslng a paper cllp Cn Lhe oLher hand
only small amounLs of oll geL lnLo Lhe Mllllkan chamber by Lhe oll aLomlzer We know LhaL Lhe
aLomlzer only works saLlsfacLorlly when Lhe rubber ball ls ln perfecL condlLlon Moreover lL ls
9

advlsable Lo calculaLe aL flrsL Lhe charges of Lwo Lo Lhree dropleLs ln order Lo gulde Lhe
experlmenLer ln selecLlng a sulLable dropleL before sLarLlng a longer serles of measuremenLs
1hls ls needed because lL has shown LhaL Lhe charge of rapldly movlng dropleLs ls so hlgh LhaL
lnformaLlon on Lhe quanLlzaLlon and parLlcularly on Lhe magnlLude of Lhe greaLesL common
dlvlsor and Lhe elemenLary charge ls dlfflculL Lo obLaln
ln an accuraLe deLermlnaLlon o Lhe fundamenLal unlL Lhere were a number of
correcLlons whlch had Lo be made Lo whaL was apparenLly already a preclse experlmenL ln
Mllllkan experlmenL Lhe relevanL correcLlons are
(a) 1he condlLlon of valldlLy of SLokes' la assumes LhaL Lhe dlmenslons of Lhe dropleL are
very greaL compared Lo Lhe mean free paLh of gas molecules 1hus for very small
dropleLs or low pressures Lhe expresslon glven for Lhls law ls no longer exacL Mllllkan
deLermlned by experlmenL requlred correcLlon facLor
(b)SLokes' law also assumes an lnflnlLe expanse of gas and Lhls ls far from Lrue 1he effecL
of Lhls appears as an exLra reLardaLlon on Lhe dropleL over and above LhaL glven by Lhe
slmple form of Lhls law When a dropleL approaches a wall Lhe compresslon waves
whlch are senL ouL whlle lL ls movlng are reflecLed aL Lhe wall 1hese reflecLed
compresslon waves provlde Lhe addlLlonal reslsLance Lo moLlon
(c) uue Lo Lhe hole ln Lhe upper plaLe Lhe llnes of force of Lhe elecLrlc fleld ln lLs vlclnlLy are
noL all exacLly parallel so LhaL Lhe dropleL does noL move ln a unlform elecLrlc fleld












10

onc|us|ons
ln concluslon afLer we perform Lhls laboraLory exerclses we obLalned Lhe value of
elecLrlcal charge C LhaL we obLalned for equlllbrlum meLhod ls 891 x 10
19
As wlLh uncerLalnLy
AC (891 x 10
19
As 7308) whlle for dynamlc meLhod ls 896 x 10
19
As wlLh uncerLalnLy
AC (896 x 10
19
As 439) Cverall Lhe ob[ecLlves are achleved and Lhls experlmenL
succeeded





keferences

1) 1 A LlLLlefleld and n 1horley ALomlc and nuclear hyslcs 1968 u van nosLrand
Company (Canada) LLd age 2830
2) ArLhur Paas ALomlc 1heory an LlemenLary LxposlLlon 1927 ConsLable and Company
LLd age 13
3) C M Mossop Advanced Level ALomlc hyslcs 1970 unlverslLy of London ress LLd
age 1216
4) 1 A LlLLlefleld ALomlc and nuclear hyslcs (An lnLroducLlon) 1hlrd LdlLlon 1979
Lngllsh Language 8ook SocleLy and van nosLrand 8elnhold Company LLd age 2327
3) u L Caro 1 A Mcuonell and 8 M Splcer Modern hyslcs (An lnLroducLlon Lo ALomlc
and nuclear) Ldward Arnold (ubllsher) LLd age 1617