This simulation demonstrates how an electric field can be tuned to exactly balance gravity on a charged oil droplet, and how measuring that balance reveals the droplet's quantized electric charge.
Adjust the voltage across the plates to make the droplet hang suspended or drift at a steady speed, then compare the calculated charge against multiples of the elementary charge.
Use the voltage slider to change the electric field strength between the plates and observe how the suspended droplet responds.
Millikan and Fletcher measured over a thousand oil droplets, and every single one carried a charge that was a whole-number multiple of the same tiny elementary charge.
This simulation demonstrates how an electric field can be tuned to exactly balance gravity on a charged oil droplet, and how measuring that balance reveals the droplet's quantized electric charge.
This simulation demonstrates how an electric field can be tuned to exactly balance gravity on a charged oil droplet, and how measuring that balance reveals the droplet's quantized electric charge.
Adjust the voltage across the plates to make the droplet hang suspended or drift at a steady speed, then compare the calculated charge against multiples of the elementary charge.
Millikan and Fletcher measured over a thousand oil droplets, and every single one carried a charge that was a whole-number multiple of the same tiny elementary charge.