The test meant to measure the electron might be one of the world ’s most perfect experiment , or it might be the most successful instance of scientific misconduct in history . It all depends on how you interpret the malicious gossip surrounding Robert Millikan and the oil - driblet experimentation .
The Charge of the Electron
Around the bend of the century , while Einstein was compute out relativity theory and forever interchange theoretic scientific discipline , Robert Millikan was always change data-based science . He mensurate the flush of the little affair in the know universe , the negatron . And he did it with a corner , a microscope , a set of plates , and a aroma spritzer .
The box housed the experiment . The metal crustal plate were set up inside the corner , both horizontal and parallel to each other . Apply an electric potential difference , or electromotive force , across the plate and the space between the plates is now filter with an electric theater . Millikan was capable to measure and adjust the voltage , and the field , between the plates very precisely .
On one side of the two plate , Millikan rate a microscope . On the other , a perfume spritzer – otherwise known as an sprayer . He spritzed drops of oil through the spray , and as they moved through the nozzle they picked up a disconfirming commission . The droplet were affected by gravity , just like anything else , and light downward toward the bottom home base . But if Millikan adjusted the field just so , he could make the drib hover , or even rise . Millikan know that dissimilar oil color drops contained different amounts of spare electrons . He had no way to measure the amount of the electron on the drop , but that did n’t matter . The amount of force required to keep a drop in the melodic line was always a multiple of a sure number , and that turn was the charge of the electron .
The Controversy
This was a brilliant experiment , and Millikan know it . He said , “ One who has seen this experiment has reckon the electron , ” and the rest of the scientific community agreed . It was no surprise when he won the Nobel Prize for physical science in 1923 . Not only had he overtake expert problems – he ’d had to find the accurate kind of oil that would advert together in rather extreme conditions – but his finding were accurate . The “ Oil Drop Experiment , ” supply a mensuration for the charge of an electron that is comparable to today ’s estimate . The major remainder between the values comes from our reason of the viscosity of air , through which the drops locomote . In 60 day , with 58 bead and “ no exclusive drib being omitted , ” Millikan had measured the charge of the electron .
When people went over his record , decades later , they catch an unwished-for surprise . It seemed that a few drops had been omitted . In fact 115 drops had been omitted . In Millikan ’s notes , certain specific drops were omitted , and considered obvious errors , because they veered out from Millikan ’s expected economic value for the charge of the electron and towards the economic value that Millikan ’s scientific challenger , Felix Ehrenhaft , predicted for the negatron .
Millikan ’s experiment has , since the publication of these alteration , hail into disrepute . While no one can dispute that Millikan ’s predictions were accurate , and that the experiment exploit , the concealed conflicting data point has change by reversal the Oil Drop experiment into a notable case of wrongful conduct . Some people even call it fraud .
Did Millikan Simply exaggerate His Case ?
The hassle with scientific misconduct is n’t just that it ’s venal – it ’s that it make erroneous data . If you go about thing the wrong way , you get the wrong result . So if Millikan did n’t know what he was doing , and was incite solely by ego , the fact that his results were so accurate is an amazing coincidence . With so many shipway to go wrong , it ’s rare to blunder into being right .
take a closer face at the missing drop curtain show us why Millikan was right about the time value of the charge . Some of the drops were measured when Millikan was still not indisputable of the distance between the microscope and the drop . He was using his estimation to check that the setup was working “ right , ” but when it was light something was “ very wrong , ” he threw out measure that were close to his computing , as well as drops that were closelipped to his challenger ’s calculation . Of the hundred cliff remnant , about 25 were released during trouble runs of the experimentation . Something had gone amiss and no measurement could be have from them . That left about 75 drops – only 17 more than he reported – of which some were pretend by melodic phrase flow or Brownian motility .
Millikan barely lucked into fame and honor . He was trying to do an exact experimentation . While he can be blame for omitting any of the 75 drop , his biggest error was the claim that “ no drop ” was omitted . This , in the end , is what beat most people . He did n’t have to make believe that he counted every drop , and yet he did . And a lot of malicious gossip ensue .
[ ViaThe Millikan Oil Drop Experiment , Flirting With Fraud , Robert Millikan Reports His Oil Drop Results , In the Case of Robert Andrews Millikan . ]
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