Excess Electrons, Milikan Oil Drop

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on the Milikan Oil Drop experiment, where the user reports a significant discrepancy between their experimental charge measurement (3.16e-14) and the theoretical charge (1.6e-19). By dividing their experimental charge by 200,000, they approximate the charge per electron to be 1.58e-19, which closely aligns with the theoretical value. The user seeks clarification on the maximum plausible number of excess electrons on an oil droplet, suggesting a figure of 50, but finds limited information online.

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Duderonimous
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I am writing out the lab for the Milikan Oil Drop experiment and punching out the numbers has shown that my measured charge is off by a factor of 5 from the theoretical amount.
theoretical: 1.6e-19
experimental: 3.16e-14

See if I divide this number by 2e5 (which means I am saying there are 200,000 excess electrons on the oil droplet) then I get 1.58e-19 which is really close to theoretical...a little too close.

Question: What is the max number of excess electrons that could plausibly be on an oil droplet. The higher the number the better :).

I am thinking 50. Searched for answers on the internet but to no avail.

Thank you.
 
Last edited:
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Show a little more of your experiment and observations, please. As wel as from your calculations. Who knows, maybe we can help. Your question is weird, to say the least.
 

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