Visualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler

Abstract 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 use...

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Autores principales:	Javier Tello Marmolejo, Mitzi Urquiza-González, Oscar Isaksson, Andreas Johansson, Ricardo Méndez-Fragoso, Dag Hanstorp
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/de4c8c0a831c4bfd9a1bced46c94344c
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:de4c8c0a831c4bfd9a1bced46c94344c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:de4c8c0a831c4bfd9a1bced46c94344c2021-12-02T16:53:20ZVisualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler10.1038/s41598-021-89714-22045-2322https://doaj.org/article/de4c8c0a831c4bfd9a1bced46c94344c2021-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89714-2https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract 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.Javier Tello MarmolejoMitzi Urquiza-GonzálezOscar IsakssonAndreas JohanssonRicardo Méndez-FragosoDag HanstorpNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-5 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Javier Tello Marmolejo Mitzi Urquiza-González Oscar Isaksson Andreas Johansson Ricardo Méndez-Fragoso Dag Hanstorp Visualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler
description	Abstract 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.
format	article
author	Javier Tello Marmolejo Mitzi Urquiza-González Oscar Isaksson Andreas Johansson Ricardo Méndez-Fragoso Dag Hanstorp
author_facet	Javier Tello Marmolejo Mitzi Urquiza-González Oscar Isaksson Andreas Johansson Ricardo Méndez-Fragoso Dag Hanstorp
author_sort	Javier Tello Marmolejo
title	Visualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler
title_short	Visualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler
title_full	Visualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler
title_fullStr	Visualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler
title_full_unstemmed	Visualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler
title_sort	visualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/de4c8c0a831c4bfd9a1bced46c94344c
work_keys_str_mv	AT javiertellomarmolejo visualizingtheelectronsquantizationwitharuler AT mitziurquizagonzalez visualizingtheelectronsquantizationwitharuler AT oscarisaksson visualizingtheelectronsquantizationwitharuler AT andreasjohansson visualizingtheelectronsquantizationwitharuler AT ricardomendezfragoso visualizingtheelectronsquantizationwitharuler AT daghanstorp visualizingtheelectronsquantizationwitharuler
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Visualizing the electron’s quantization with a ruler

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