Question

Is it possible that the charge on an oil drop in Millikan’s method is (5/4)e ?

Answer 1

Any oil droplet's charge is always an integral value of e. (1.6 x 10-19).

• If there isn't any electric field, the experiment permits the oil drops to fall between the plates. They accelerate initially owing to gravity, but due to air resistance, the oil droplets eventually slow down.
• The Formula for the oil-drops experiment of Millikan is as follows::

                        Fup = Q ⋅

                      E   Fdown = m

  Where Electron's charge is Q, m is the mass of a droplet, the electric field is E, and gravity is g.

                         Q ⋅ E = m ⋅ g

                         Q = m.gE

This allows one to figure out how Millikan measures an electron charge. Millikan also discovered that all of the drops had charged in the 1.6x 10-19 C range.

• Millikan's oil drop experiment resulted in, the charge being considered to be quantized, implying that the charge on each particle is invariably a multiple of e that is integral.

• Millikan by establishing a homogeneous electric field between the oil droplets and two parallel charged plates, researchers were able to determine the charge on a single electron.