Setup for Millikan’s Oil Drop Experiment

1. Configuration of the room for the experiment: The room’s lights were dimmed and a
small torchlight was used in order to take the observations. The apparatus was placed on
a stable platform to ensure the absence of any sort of unwanted vibrations and
movements.
2. Cleansing of the viewing chamber: To make sure the continuous flow of oil drops into
the viewing chamber, the chamber was dismantled and all of the components were
thoroughly rinsed. As the experiment went on, the covering of the hole for the droplets in
the upper plate slowly accumulated oil and started to clog as it received more and more
jets of oil from the atomizer. So, the cleansing procedure was carried out repeatedly
throughout the performance of the experiment in order to keep the experimental
apparatus in working condition.
3. Measurement of the space between the plates: Before reassembling the viewing
chamber, the space between the two capacitor plates was measured to aid in the coming
calculations.
4. Adjustment of the view piece and the microscope: The microscope and the eyepiece
were then adjusted for better viewing of the oil droplets and to achieve maximum focus.
5. Adjustment of the potential difference and power source: A 12 V DC power supply
was connected to the plates and the value of the potential difference between the plates
was adjusted to almost 495 volts with the upper limit being 530 volts. These readings
were taken for use in calculations.

The experiment was performed by carefully observing the fall and the rise of the charged oil
droplets in the presence and absence of a known electric field and then applying these
measurements to the above equation for calculations. All of the apparatus was set up in the
viewing chamber as explained in the upcoming figures. The chamber is shown in the following
figures:

Figure.3. {Simplified scheme of Millikan's oil drop experiment, 2022 #7}

 Figure.4. Plan View of the experimental setup of chamber

Figure.4. Side view of the experimental setup of the chamber