Chemistry / Unit 2 Chem 0196 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Millikan's Oil-Drop Experiment (1913)
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The idea
In his 1913 published results, Robert Millikan showed oil-droplet charges were each a whole-number multiple of one fixed, smallest charge.
In practice
Charging oil drops and balancing gravity against an adjustable electric field let Millikan read each drop's charge as a small multiple of that unit.
Where people slip
Millikan never isolated one electron; he inferred the fundamental charge as the smallest factor shared across many droplets.
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