Biography:Robert Millikan: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|American physicist who measured the elementary electric charge}} | |||
{{Infobox scientist | {{Infobox scientist | ||
| name = Robert A. Millikan | |||
| image = Biography_Robert_Millikan.jpg | | image = Biography_Robert_Millikan.jpg | ||
| caption = | | caption = Millikan | ||
| | | birth_date = 22 March 1868 | ||
| | | birth_place = Morrison, Illinois, United States | ||
| death_date = 1953 | | death_date = 19 December 1953 | ||
| death_place = San Marino, California, United States | |||
| fields = Physics | | fields = Physics | ||
| work_institutions = University of Chicago; California Institute of Technology | | work_institutions = University of Chicago; California Institute of Technology | ||
| known_for = Oil-drop experiment; elementary charge; photoelectric effect | | known_for = Oil-drop experiment; elementary charge; photoelectric effect | ||
| awards = Nobel Prize in Physics (1923) | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''Robert A. Millikan''' (1868-1953) was an American physicist best known for the oil-drop experiment, which measured the elementary electric charge. His work made the charge of the [[Physics:Quantum electron|electron]] a precise physical constant. | |||
'''Robert Millikan''' (1868-1953) was an American physicist best known for the oil-drop experiment, which measured the elementary electric charge. | |||
Millikan | == Elementary charge == | ||
Millikan's oil-drop experiment measured tiny charged droplets suspended in an electric field. By comparing electric and gravitational forces, Millikan inferred that electric charge occurs in discrete units. This result supported the particle picture of electricity and the electron. | |||
== | Millikan also worked on the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon central to early quantum theory. | ||
== Quantum Collection links == | |||
* [[Physics:Quantum electron]] | * [[Physics:Quantum electron]] | ||
* [[Physics:Quantum atoms/electron]] | * [[Physics:Quantum atoms/electron]] | ||
* [[Physics:Quantum Planck constant]] | |||
* [[Physics:Quantum photoelectric effect]] | |||
== References == | |||
{{reflist|3}} | |||
* {{Cite web |title=Robert A. Millikan - Biographical |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1923/millikan/biographical/ |publisher=Nobel Prize Outreach |access-date=2026-05-23}} | |||
* {{Cite web |title=Robert Millikan |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Millikan |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=2026-05-23}} | |||
== External links == | |||
* [https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1923/millikan/biographical/ Nobel Prize biography] | |||
{{Author|Harold Foppele}} | {{Author|Harold Foppele}} | ||
Latest revision as of 08:29, 23 May 2026
Robert A. Millikan (1868-1953) was an American physicist best known for the oil-drop experiment, which measured the elementary electric charge. His work made the charge of the electron a precise physical constant.
Elementary charge
Millikan's oil-drop experiment measured tiny charged droplets suspended in an electric field. By comparing electric and gravitational forces, Millikan inferred that electric charge occurs in discrete units. This result supported the particle picture of electricity and the electron.
Millikan also worked on the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon central to early quantum theory.
Quantum Collection links
- Physics:Quantum electron
- Physics:Quantum atoms/electron
- Physics:Quantum Planck constant
- Physics:Quantum photoelectric effect
References
- "Robert A. Millikan - Biographical". Nobel Prize Outreach. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1923/millikan/biographical/.
- "Robert Millikan". https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Millikan.
External links
Author: Harold Foppele