In Millikan’s experiment,

Question

the oil droplets acquire one or more negative charges by combining with the negative charges that are produced from the ionization of air by X rays. By measuring the charges on the oil droplets, he calculated the charge on a single electron as −1.60×10−19 C. The charge on any negatively charged oil droplet is always a whole-number multiple of the fundamental charge of a single electron. If Millikan was measuring the charge on an oil droplet with 3 negatively charged electrons on it, what charge would he have measured on the droplet?

 

Express your answer to three significant figures and include the appropriate units.

Answer 1

Three electrons would have charged the droplet to -3*1.6*10^-19 C = -4.80*10^-19 C

 

Jim