Robert Millikan (1 janv. 1909 – 1 janv. 1910)

Description:

In 1909, Robert Millikan performed an experiment where he was to put a charge on a small drop of oil, and measure how strong an applied electric field had to be in order to keep the oil drop from falling; he determined the mass of the drop and from that the force of gravity upon said drop, then the electric charge the drop must have. Millikan's Oil Drop Experiment helped to determine the size and charge of an electron. Along with this, he determined that there was the smallest unit charge or that charge is "quantized." This increased the understanding of the structure and basic components of an atom.