Measurement of Electron Charge

Using Oil Drop Method

Abstract— This paper presents the methodology to measure unit of force. This was because the investigations, which
the charge of electron using Oil Drop Method. In the proposed used a murkiness of charged water dabs and saw the
strategy, the assessment plan contains a chamber with different development of the cloud impacted by both gravity and an
contraption. The speed of falling drops is assessed through eye- electric field and under gravity alone, assessed the total
piece of amplifying instrument related with the chamber. By
changing the applied voltage to the condenser, the spot of oil
charge of the cloud and didn't display that the value got was
drop can be controlled. By using Thomson's assessment data certainly not a quantifiable typical.
[1] for the examining taken, the charge of electron is The organization of the paper is as under:
considered 1.6 X 10 - 19 Coulomb. Section-II describes the detail method of the
experiment along with motivation, planned strategy with the
Keywords— Electric Charge, Oil drop method detail thought behind the actual implementation.
Section-III elaborates the detail of experimental
I. INTRODUCTION setup with all the components and accessories and covering
The electron is a subatomic particle (planned via the experimental methodology with supporting equations and
image e− or β−) whose electric expense is negative one background of previous research and basic physics.
simple price.[9] Electrons have a region with the one of a Section-IV shows the observation in tabulated
kind of the lepton atom own family,[10] and are for the most format and conclusion with reference to pre-derived values
extreme part thought to be simple trash considering they have of Thomson’s experiment. [1]
no respected components or base. all through the Eighties And finally section V is concluding remarks of the
and '90s specialists appeared by means of cathode radiates paper.
for the carrier of the electric homes in a difficult situation.
Their work completed inside the exposure by utilizing II. PROPOSED ACT
English physicist J.J. Thomson of the electron in 1897[1]. A. Motivation for the experiment
The presence of the electron showed that the 2,000-yr-rare One wellspring of vulnerability in Thomson's strategy
start of the particle as a homogeneous atom wasn't for estimation was because of dissipation of the beads. It is
appropriate and that the truth be told the molecule has a accepted that vulnerability can be diminished by suspending
troublesome creation. the cloud with an electric field. In this endeavor single drop
the motivation to work started in 1897 with the is disconnected and estimation is performed on that bead.
exposure of the electron through J. J. Thomson [1]. it's been
demonstrated, by means of taking off cathode radiates in B. Planned strategy and constraints
every electric and engaging fields, that the shafts have been The first arrangement for killing the dissipation mistake
unfavorably charged particles. Then, at that point, m/e was to get, if conceivable, an electric field sufficiently able to
expected, the mass-to-charge portion of those particles. The precisely adjust the power of gravity on the cloud and
truly worth he found, 1.29 ' 10-7, changed into far extra through a sliding contact to shift the strength of this field to
unobtrusive, through a component of 1,000, than the hold the cloud adjusted all through its whole life. In this
humblest worth at present gotten, alright, that of the manner it was imagined that the entire vanishing history of
hydrogen molecule in electrolysis. Thomson remarked that the cloud may be recorded, and reasonable stipend then, at
this will be a direct result of the modesty of m or to the that point, mentioned in the observable facts on the pace of
tremendousness of e. He battled that m turned out to be tumble to kill altogether the mistake because of dissipation. It
nearly nothing, refering to Lenard's work on the extent of was not found imaginable to hold individual drops suspended
cathode radiates in air. The achieve, which is connected with by the field for periods differing from 30 to 60 seconds.
the mean free way for effects, and which depends on the size Single drops can be observed for periods of an hour or more.
of the article, was zero.five cm. The infer free way for It is possible
particles in air changed into around 10-5 cm. if the cathode 1. To catch upon a minute droplet of oil and to hold under
pillar journeyed such a ton farther than a molecule past to observation for an indefinite length of time one single
ramming into an air molecule, then it should be stacks extra atmospheric ion or any desired number of such ions between
unobtrusive than a particle. The way that the value got for 1 and 150.
m/e transformed into liberated from both the gas contained in 2. To present direct and tangible demonstration, through the
the cathode bar tube and of the cathode material drove study of the behaviour in electrical and gravitational fields
Thomson to reason that these particles were fixings, the of this oil drop, carrying its captured ions, of the correctness
entire thing being equivalent. of the view advanced many years ago and supported by
evidence from many sources that all electrical charges,
The accompanying stage was to evaluate e, and in however produced, are exact multiples of one definite,
like manner to choose m. The early finishes of the charge of elementary, electrical charge, or in other words, that an
the electron didn't spread out assuming there was an essential
electrical charge instead of being spread uniformly over the drop is passed a second crosshair, which determined the time
charged surface has a definite granular structure, consisting, of fall at constant speed for the known distance between the
in fact, of an exact number of specks, or atoms of electricity, crosshairs , an electric field is turned on. The charged oil
all precisely alike, peppered over the surface of the charged drop then travelled upward at a different constant speed and
body [1]. the time to ascend the same distance is measured. These two
It was possible “To make an exact determination of the value time measurements allowed the determination of both the
of the elementary electrical charge which is free from all mass of the drop and its total charge.
questionable theoretical assumptions and is limited in The force acting on the force are:
accuracy only by that attainable in the measurement of the  Gravitational force
coefficient of viscosity of air [1].”  Electrostatic force due to electric field
III. EXPERIMENTAL DETAIL  Viscous drag force

Gravitational force is given by

F g=Gravitational force−Bouyant force
4 3
F g= π r ( ρ−ρ air ) g−−−−( 1)
3
Where,
g= gravitational force
ρ=density of oil
ρ air =density of air

Using Stoke’s law,

F G=6 πηr v 1−−−−(2)
Where,
r= radius of oil drop
η=visocity of air
If oil drop is going with constant velocity viscous force
will be equal to gravitational force.
Figure:1 – Experimental setup for measurement of charge Where viscous force is given by,
F V =6 πηr v 2−−−(3)
The contraption consolidated an equal sets of flat metal
plates, from that top plate is having a little opening to permit Comparing equation (1) and (3),
drop between the plates. By applying a possible distinction 9 η v1
across the plates, a uniform electric field is made in the space r 2= −−−(4)
between them. A ring of protecting material was utilized to 2 g ( ρ−ρ air )
hold the plates separated. Four openings were cut into the So, r and Fg can be calculated from equation (2) and
ring, three for brightening by a brilliant light, and one more equation (4).
to permit seeing through a magnifying instrument. Now, when droplets enter the area between plates, the
force FE=qxE appears across the drop, where q is charge and
A fine mist of oil droplets is sprayed into a chamber E is applied voltage across the plates. This force can stop the
above the plates. The oil is of a type usually used in vacuum motion of the drop if FE=Fg.
apparatus and was chosen because it had an extremely low q∗v
F g=F E=q x E=
vapour pressure. Ordinary oil would evaporate under the heat d
of the light source causing the mass of the oil drop to change In this case q is calculated by,
over the course of the experiment. Some oil drops became
electrically charged through friction with the nozzle as they F g∗d
were sprayed. Alternatively, charging could be brought about q= −−−(5)
by including an ionising radiation source (such as an X-ray v
tube). X-rays are used to ionize the gas, which makes the
If the applied voltage is higher, the oil drop is
droplets between the plates charged. The droplets entered the
travelled upward with constant velocity v 2. In this case,
space between the plates and, because they were charged,
viscous force will act downward. So, in this case the force
could be made to rise and fall by changing the voltage across
balance equation can be written as,
the plates in the range up to 10kV.
F E =F g + F v −−−( 6 )
A. Experiment methodology q∗v
=6 πηr v 1 +6 πηr v 2
The experimental apparatus is shown in Figure 1. A d
single oil drop is allowed to fall a known distance in air. The 6 πηr ( v 1+ v 2 )∗d
time of fall from rest is not measured, but it is measured from q= −−−(7)
a short distance before it passed a crosshair, which is the start v
of the time measurement. Because of air resistance the drop So, q can be calculated for both cases, where droplets is
is then traveling at a constant, terminal velocity. After the going upward or downward.
 IV. OBSERVATION AND RESULT
From Table:1, difference of charge can be found
with change in applied voltage. where n is an integer in the
formula q=ne.
TABLE 1: Variation of charge with voltage
Voltage n Change in
Charge (q)
(V) charge
391.49 4.005 x 10-18 25
407.90 3.845 x 10-18 24 -1.602 x10 -19
376.43 4.326 x 10 -18
26 +3.204 x10 -19
337.49 4.005 x 10 -18
29 -1.602 x10 -19
365.49 4.326 x 10 -18
27 -3.204 x10 -19
376.39 4.165 x 10 -18
26 -1.602 x10 -19
391.49 4.005 x 10 -18
25 -1.602 x10 -19
362.49 4.326 x 10 -18
27 +3.204 x10 -19
349.54 4.486 x 10 -18
28 +1.602 x10 -19
407.80 3.845 x 10 -18
24 -6.408 x10 -19
425.53 3.685 x 10 -18
23 -1.602 x10 -19

From the above table, it is found that the minimum

charge is found to be 1.602 x10 -19 coulomb, which is due to
electron attached to the oil drop.
From Thomson’s experiment of cathode ray tube
[1],
Charge to mass ratio
e 11
=1.76 x 10 c /kg−−−− ( 8 )
m
From this we can write,
e 1.602 x 10−19
m= =
e 1.76 x 10
11

m
∴ m=9.1 x 10−31 kg−−−(9)
V. CONCLUSION
The charge over any oil droplet is always an
integral value of e (1.6 x 10-19). Hence, the conclusion of Oil
Drop Experiment is that the charge is said to be quantized,
i.e. the charge on any particle will always be an integral
multiple of e.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The experiment took place in the Ryerson Physical
Laboratory at the University of Chicago.

REFERENCES

[1] Thomson, J.J. (1897). "Cathode Rays". Philosophical Magazine. 44

(269): 293–316.
[2] Kaufmann, W. (1897). "Die magnetische Ablenkbarkeit der
Kathodenstrahlen und ihre Abhängigkeit vom Entladungspotential"
[3] Benjamin, Park (1898), A history of electricity (The intellectual rise
in electricity) from antiquity to the days of Benjamin Frank
[4] Becquerel, H. (1900). "Déviation du Rayonnement du Radium dans
un Champ Électrique"
[5] Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)". Eric Weisstein's World of
Biography. Wolfram Research.