College Physics ›› 2017, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (12): 37-40.doi: 10.16854/j.cnki.1000-0712.2017.12.010

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Uncertainty of Millikan's oil drop experiment

ZENG Xiao-qi,SHAO Ming-zhen,CHEN Ji,YANG Jun   

  1. Department of Physics,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,Guangdong 518055,China
  • Received:2017-03-03 Revised:2017-04-23 Online:2017-12-20 Published:2017-12-20

Abstract: In the Millikan's oil drop experiment,the more electric charge the oil drop carries,the larger measurement uncertainty is.According to the calculation of uncertainty,we analyze quantitatively how to balance the measurement uncertainty and the droplet charge.Our results will be helpful for choosing oil droplets and controlling the experimental uncertainty.

Key words: Millikan's oil drop experiment, uncertainty, error analysis