Question

Describe Milikan's oil drop experiment in brief.

Answer 1

1. Milikan's oil drop experiment: In Milikan's oil drop experiment, some fine oil droplets were allowed to be sprayed into the chamber by an atomizer.
2. The air in the chamber was then subjected to ionization by X-rays.
3. The electrons generated by the ionization of air attached themselves to the oil drops.
4. When a sufficient amount of electrical field is applied which can balance the gravitational force acting on an oil drop, the drop remains suspended in the air. Millikan determined the charge of electrons to be $1.60\times {10}^{-19}$ coulomb.