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Robert Andrew Millikan - Research Paper

Robert Andrew Millikan

In 1909 set up an apparatus to measure the charge
of an electron within an accuracy range of 3%. In 1913 he came out with a
value of the electrical charge that would serve the world of science for a
generation.
Young Millikan had a childhood like most others: he had no idea what his
profession would be. Once he recalled trying to jump from a rowboat to a dock,
falling in the water, and almost drowning. Here he had his first account with
physics - Newton’s Third Law of Motion: "For every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction". Even in High School Physics courses Millikan was not so
spirited, which may have had a little to do with his teacher’s habit of spending
the summers ...

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was on his resume Millikan was offered a
position in the Physics department at the University of Chicago and Millikan
took it. After teaching for a period Millikan decided that physics could only
be taught properly through the practice of experimentation and getting your
hands in it just as many other things are. Thus, he began writing better
textbooks for the University of Chicago, "In fact he spent the morning of his
wedding day reading proofs of his textbooks" (
http://physics.uwstout.edu/sotw/millikan.html )
During his 12 hours of teaching each day Millikan spent half of his time
doing research. In 1909 he constructed his first oil drop apparatus to
determine the charge of an electron. Millikan discovered that the charge
depended on the frequency of incident light. In the beginning of his
experimentation Millikan was using a drop of water. Using a water drop only
gave Millikan forty five seconds in which to measure the charge, due to the
volatility of the water. ...

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Robert Andrew Millikan. (2004, February 20). Retrieved January 6, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Robert-Andrew-Millikan/3372

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 2/20/2004 10:52:12 PM
Category: Biographies
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 547
Pages: 2

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