Millikan Oil Drop Experiment

Measured the elementary electric charge of a single electron.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Balanced charged oil droplets between gravity and an applied electric field.
• Determined the elementary charge to be about 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ coulombs.
• Earned Robert Millikan the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Specifications & Metrics

• YEAR: 1909