Visualizing the electron's quantization with a ruler.
Journal
Scientific reports
ISSN: 2045-2322
Titre abrégé: Sci Rep
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101563288
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
25 05 2021
25 05 2021
Historique:
received:
15
02
2021
accepted:
28
04
2021
entrez:
26
5
2021
pubmed:
27
5
2021
medline:
27
5
2021
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
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.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34035337
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89714-2
pii: 10.1038/s41598-021-89714-2
pmc: PMC8149853
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
10703Références
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