In Millikan’s experiment, the oil droplets acquire one or more negative charges

Question

In Millikan’s experiment, the oil droplets acquire one or more negative charges by combining with the negative charges that are produced from the ionization of air by X rays. By measuring the charges on the oil droplets, he calculated the charge on a single electron as 1.60×1019 C. The charge on any negatively charged oil droplet is always a whole-number multiple of the fundamental charge of a single electron. If Millikan was measuring the charge on an oil droplet with 7 negatively charged electrons on it, what charge would he have measured on the droplet? Express your answer to three significant figures and include the appropriate units.

Explanation / Answer

The charge on the droplet will be = Charge on each electron X number of electrons

The charge = 1.60×1019 C X 7 = 11.2 X 10^-19 Coulumbs

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