30.

CHARGED PARTICLES
Electrons

 Matter is made up of small particles, atoms and molecules etc.

 However from experiments done in the late 19th and early 20th century it was deduced
that atoms were made up of three fundamental sub-atomic particles
Protons, electrons and neutrons
 There exists a smallest unit of electric charge, called the elementary charge, e, of which
other units are simple multiples, 𝑒 = 1.602 × 10−19 𝐶.
 This was reasoned by Millikan that this was the charge on an individual elect

Millikan’s Oil Drop Experiment

 he assumed that when tiny oil drops are sprayed from an atomizer, they become
charged by friction.
 The hypothesis was the total charge on any oil drop would be an integral multiple of
elementary charge.

 To measure this charge, Millikan made use of the uniform electric field in the region
between two oppositely charged parallel plates.
 He charged the plates by connecting each to opposite terminals of a large bank of
storage batteries whose potential difference could be varied.
 Once a mist of oil drops is sprayed through a small hole in the upper plate in a Millikan
apparatus, it is possible, by carefully adjusting the potential difference between the
plates, to “balance” a particular droplet that has the same sign as the charge on the
lower plate.
 When the droplet is balanced, the gravitational force pulling it down equals the electric
force pulling it up.
 For a positively charged drop of mass m and charge q, the electric force acts upward if
the lower plate is positively charged:
𝐹𝐸 = 𝑞𝐸
where E is the electric field between the plates.
When the droplet is in balance,
𝐹𝐸 = 𝐹𝐺
 𝑞𝐸 = 𝑚𝑔

 The density of air at room temperature is negligible compared to density of oil, so the
upthrust due to air is ignored.
 the electric field in the region between two parallel plates is constant and has a
magnitude given by
𝑉
𝐸=
𝑑
where V is the electric potential difference between the plates, and d is the
separation between the plates.
𝑚𝑔𝑑
 Hence the charge on the oil drop is given by, 𝑞 = 𝑉 .
 The mass m of the oil drop could be found by switching of the electric field and
measuring the terminal velocity.
 The total charge q could therefore be calculated.
 Millikan repeated the experiment over and over, meticulously balancing a charged oil
droplet, measuring its balancing voltage, and then allowing the droplet to fall under
gravity and measuring its terminal speed.
 The list of values he determined for the total electric charge on each of the drops studied
contained a significant pattern: all the values were simple multiples of some smallest
value (1.602 × 10−19 𝐶.)
 Charge is said to be quantised

The Motion of Charged Particles in Electric Fields

 A charged particle in a uniform electric field of field strength E experiences a force FE

given by
𝐹𝐸 = 𝑞𝐸

 The particle moves with uniform acceleration.

Since E is constant FE is also constant.
𝐹 𝑞𝐸
Applying Newtons second law, 𝑎 = 𝐸 =
𝑚 𝑚
 This will be the case for small charged particles (such as ions, electrons, and protons)
where gravitational effects are negligible and they are moving between two parallel
plates in a vacuum.
 Consider an electron moving with velocity v, entering an electric field of intensity E
which is perpendicular to its motion.
 The vertical displacement y, of the electron after time t, is given by:
1 𝑞𝐸
𝑦 = ( ) 𝑡2
2 𝑚
 The horizontal displacement x, is unaffected by the field and is given by:
𝑥 = 𝑣𝑡
𝑞𝐸
Eliminating t, 𝑦 = (2𝑚𝑣 2 ) 𝑥 2

The path of the electron is a parabola in the field.

  Since the electron gained a y-component of velocity there is an increase in the kinetic
energy.
 The work done by the electric force = change in kinetic energy of electron
1
𝑒𝑉 = 𝑚𝑣 2
2

The Motion of Charged Particles in Magnetic Fields

 An electron moving with a velocity v at right angles to a magnetic field of flux density B
experiences a force F, given by 𝐹 = 𝐵𝑒𝑣
 The force is perpendicular to both the field direction and the velocity.
 The force can neither speed up nor slow down the electron as it is at right angles.
 Since B, e and v don’t change the force on the particle has a constant magnitude and is
directed towards the centre at all times.
 The electron is projected in a circular path at a constant speed.

 The magnetic force provides the centripetal force.

𝑚𝑣 2
𝐵𝑒𝑣 =
𝑟
Velocity selector
 When a magnetic field and an electric field are perpendicular to each other in such a way
they produce deflections in opposite senses they are called crossed fields.
 When the deflecting forces are equal in magnitude, only electrons of a certain velocity
pass through undeflected.
 This is known as velocity selection.
𝐹𝐵 = 𝐹𝐸
𝐵𝑒𝑣 = 𝑒𝐸
𝐸
Making v subject formula: 𝑣=𝐵

Determination of specific charge

 A narrow beam of electrons is accelerated towards a cylindrical anode.
 When the fields (E and B) are zero the electrons pass through undeflected hitting the
screen at Z.
 The magnetic field between plates is switched on and adjusted till they hit point X.
 The magnetic force provides the centripetal force.
𝑚𝑣 2
𝐵𝑒𝑣 =
𝑟
𝑒 𝑣
=
𝑚 𝑟𝐵
B can be calculated from the dimensions of the coil.
r is measured directly
v can be determined by switching on the electric field between the plates .
 The electric field is switched on and is adjusted so that the beam of electrons hits Z
again, the electric force = the magnetic force
𝐸
𝑣=
𝐵
𝑒 𝐸
= 2
𝑚 𝑟𝐵
𝑒
 The ratio 𝑚 is known as specific charge and it has a value 1.76 × 1011 𝐶/𝑘𝑔
 The mass of the electron was found to be 9.11 × 10−31 𝑘𝑔