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Visualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler

More than 100 years ago, Robert Millikan demonstrated the quantization of the electron using charged, falling droplets, but the statistical analysis on many falling droplets did not allow a direct visualization of the quantization of charge. Instead of letting the droplets fall, we have used optical...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Marmolejo, Javier Tello, Urquiza-González, Mitzi, Isaksson, Oscar, Johansson, Andreas, Méndez-Fragoso, Ricardo, Hanstorp, Dag
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8149853/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34035337
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89714-2
Descripción
Sumario:More than 100 years ago, Robert Millikan demonstrated the quantization of the electron using charged, falling droplets, but the statistical analysis on many falling droplets did not allow a direct visualization of the quantization of charge. Instead of letting the droplets fall, we have used optical levitation to create a single droplet version of Millikan’s experiment where the effects of a single electron removal can be observed by the naked eye and measured with a ruler. As we added charges to the levitated droplet, we observed that its equilibrium position jumped vertically in quantized steps. The discrete nature of the droplet’s jumps is a direct consequence of the single-electron changes in the charge on the droplet, and therefore clearly demonstrates the quantization of charge. The steps were optically magnified onto a wall and filmed. We anticipate that the video of these single electron additions can become a straightforward demonstration of the quantization of charge for a general audience.