www.AhaGuru.

com
Class 11 Chemistry Millikan's Oil Drop Experiment S. Santhanam
WS21.C11.07.1
2021-22
04-09-2021
Name:

Mobile No:

The apparatus consisted of a chamber B immersed in a thermostat (not shown) & filled with
air whose pressure can be controlled by a vacuum pump and read on a manometer M. At the
lower end of B two condenser plates C & C’ are installed. Across these a potential can be
applied through the battery S.

The space between the plates was illuminated by a light source located in front of a window in
the chamber W1 and could be observed through a telescope mounted in front of the apparatus
& fitted with cross hairs a definite distant apart.

Using an atomiser (A) a spray of fine oil droplets was introduced into B. In due course one of
these droplets would travel down towards C and passed through an opening O in this plate
into the space between C and C’. Immediately the opening O was closed and rate of fall of the
droplet through air under gravity was determined by measuring the time needed for it to pass
between the cross hairs of the telescope. At this stage X-rays from source R was passed into the
space between the plates through the window W2 . This beam caused the air molecules to
become ionised, forming ions which would be captured by the oil droplet & impart to it a
charge.

When the electrostatic field was now applied from S across condenser plates C and C’ an oil
droplet with a charge on it could be made to fall faster or actually rise against gravity with a
velocity dependent on the direction of the field, its magnitude and the charge on the drop.

The rate of rise a fall could be observed by timing the passage between the cross hairs (of the
telescope). In fact, once a particle was trapped between C and C’ it could be made to fall or rise
at will either shutting off or turning on the electrostatic field & hence the measurements on
any particle could be repeated many times. The forces acting an oil drop are gravitational,
electrostatic due to electrical field & a viscous drug force as the oil drop is moving.

r1 : rate of fall of the particle under gravity (g)

r2 : rate of rise of the particle against gravity
When an electrostatic field strength (X) is applied
r1 m'g
m': mass of the out droplet, e’ charge and then 
r2 Xe'  m'g
Class 11 Chemistry www.AhaGuru.com
S. Santhanam
WS21.C11.07.1

The values m’ required to find e’ were got using Stoke's law equation.

(Frictional) retarding force  6 π ηr v

(Stoke's law)

η : viscosity of air
r : radius, v : velocity of the droplet
6π ηr v  m'g
frictional force balances gravitational force
m' m'
d (density)  
volume 4 πr 3
3
4 m'g
m'  π dr 3  v 
3 6πη r
4 
π dr 3  g
m'g  3 2
  2 dr g
v 
6πη r 6πη r 9 η

9vη 4
r and m' = πdr 3
2dg 3

Millikan concluded that the magnitude of electrical charge (q) on the droplet is always an
integral multiples of the electrical charge (e’) (e).
q = ne’
e’ was not constant but there was a common factor for all the values of e’

Millikan's oil-drop apparatus.