In 1909, Robert Millikan performed an experiment involving tiny, charged drops of oil. The drops were charged because they had picked up extra electrons. Millikan was able to measure the charge on each drop in coulombs. Here is an example of what his data may have looked like.
Drop Charge (C)
A 3.20 x 10^-19
B 4.80 x 10^-19
C 8.00 x 10^-19
D 9.60 x 10^-19
In Millikan's experiment, the charge on each drop of oil was measured in coulombs. Imagine the same experiment, but with charges measured in a fictitious unit called a zeet (Z).
Drop Charge (Z)
A 1.38 × 10^−14
B 3.22 × 10^−14
C 3.68 × 10^−14
D 4.14 × 10^−14
E 5.98 × 10^−14
What is the charge on an electron in zeets?
Express your answer in zeets using two significant figures.
Divide all of the numbers by the smallest, which makes it 1.00000. Then multiply each number obtain by some whole number (trial an error--2,3,4,5,6 etc) and round to whole numbers. I found three worked well. Then 1.38E-14/3 = the charge in zeets.
dmed
Question @DrBob222 at the end how do you divide including the negative can you show work for that
To find the charge on an electron in zeets, we need to compare the charge of an electron in zeets to the known charge of an electron in coulombs.
We are given the charge on each drop of oil in zeets:
Drop Charge (Z)
A 1.38 × 10^−14
B 3.22 × 10^−14
C 3.68 × 10^−14
D 4.14 × 10^−14
E 5.98 × 10^−14
We can see that the charge on these drops is in the order of 10^-14 Z.
Now we need to find the charge on an electron in coulombs. The accepted value for the charge of an electron is approximately 1.602 × 10^-19 C.
To find the charge on an electron in zeets, we can divide the charge on an electron in coulombs by the charge on one drop in zeets.
Using the data provided, let's choose the closest value to the accepted charge of an electron (1.602 × 10^-19 C) from the given charges of the drops:
Choose drop A with a charge of 1.38 × 10^−14 Z.
Now, we can calculate the charge on an electron in zeets:
Charge on an electron in zeets = Charge on an electron in coulombs / Charge on drop A in zeets
Charge on an electron in zeets = (1.602 × 10^-19 C) / (1.38 × 10^−14 Z)
Calculating this, we get:
Charge on an electron in zeets ≈ 1.16 × 10^-5 Z
Therefore, the charge on an electron in zeets is approximately 1.16 × 10^-5 Z, rounded to two significant figures.