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{{Short description|American physicist who measured the elementary electric charge}}
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{{Biography page}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Robert A. Millikan
| image = Biography_Robert_Millikan.jpg
| image = Biography_Robert_Millikan.jpg
| caption = Robert Millikan
| caption = Millikan
| name = Robert A. Millikan
| birth_date = 22 March 1868
| birth_date = 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)
}}
}}


{{Short description|Physicist who measured the elementary electric charge}}
'''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. The result made the charge of the [[Physics:Quantum electron|electron]] a precise physical quantity.
 
== 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 received the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physics for work on the elementary charge of electricity and the photoelectric effect. In the Quantum Collection, his name is linked with quantitative electron physics.
Millikan also worked on the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon central to early quantum theory.


== See also ==
== 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 23:03, 24 May 2026

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Robert A. Millikan
Millikan
Millikan
Born 22 March 1868
Morrison, Illinois, United States
Died 19 December 1953
San Marino, California, United States


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 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.

References


Author: Harold Foppele