Robert Millikan is an American physicist. The Nobel laureate for his work on the photoelectric effect and the change in the charge of an electron was studying cosmic rays. He was a member of the US Academy of Sciences.
Robert Andrews Millikan's father was a clergyman, his mother worked as a dean in college. Two more brothers and three sisters of the future scientist grew up in their family.
Path selection
The biography of the future physicist began in 1868. He was born on March 22 in the city of Morrison. When Robert turned seven, the adults decided to move to the small town of Macuokeut. There, the boy graduated from high school. He decided to receive further education in college. The choice fell on the mother recommended by Oberlin.
During the training, the student was especially interested in the ancient Greek language and mathematics. Then he attended a course in physics. Soon the young man received an offer to teach this discipline. Students of preparatory school at college. Work lasted two years. In 1891 Milliken received a bachelor's degree, in 1893 he became a master.
Oberlin’s leadership sent documents to a talented student at Columbia University. Robert was admitted to college and provided with a scholarship. Physicist-inventor Michael Pyupin began working with a new student.
The summer of a promising young man went through classes at the University of Chicago. There he studied with the scientist Albert Michelson. Then Millikan became convinced that the study of physics and the conduct of experiments was the work of his whole life.
Confession
In 1895, a doctoral dissertation on the polarization of light was defended and a doctorate was obtained. In 1896, Robert began a journey through Europe. The young physicist was even more convinced of his desire to engage in scientific creativity. After returning to his homeland, Milliken became an assistant to Michelsen at the University of Chicago.
For 12 years, he conducted research and wrote the country's first physics textbooks for American students. According to them, training was conducted for half a century. In 1907, Robert became an assistant professor, in 1910 he was awarded the title of professor of physics.
In 1908, Milliken began to devote most of his time to research. The young scientist was interested in the recently discovered electrons. He studied the magnitude of the charge. Robert Andrews calculated the magnitude of the effect of the electron field on the ether cloud. His experiment made it possible to create a charged drop method.
To improve Wilson's experimental setup, Millikan used a more powerful battery to create a stronger electric field. He managed to isolate several charged water droplets located between the metal plates.
When the field was activated, the droplets slowly began to move upward; when the field was turned off, a slow lowering began under the influence of gravity. Examining each drop using activation and deactivation took 45 seconds. After that, the water evaporated.
New experiences
In 1909, a scientist determined that charges preserve integrity and multiplicity relative to a fundamental value. It was proved that an electron is a fundamental particle with the same masses and charges. Milliken eventually managed to find out that instead of water, it is better to conduct experiments with oil to increase the study time to 4.5 hours.
Such a replacement made it possible to get rid of measurement errors and inaccuracies and to better study the processes. In 1913, the physicist proved his conclusions. The results of his research remained relevant for 7 decades. Minor adjustments were made only by modern scientists using the most modern equipment.
Milliken also studied the photoelectric effect. During the experiments, electrons were knocked out of the metal using light. This question as early as 1905 interested the famous Albert Einstein. However, he only generalized the hypothesis proposed by Planck about the particles of light photons. Most of the scientific world did not believe in Einstein's conclusions.
Testing of his ideas in 1912 began Milliken. He created a new installation to exclude the impact on the accuracy of the results of random factors. The final results of the experiments fully proved the correctness of Einstein's conclusions. Work has begun on determining the value of the Planck constant.
The results of the study were published in 1912. In 1923, the scientist received the Nobel Prize. The physicist was engaged in research of the electromagnetic spectrum, Brownian motion. The experiments brought Robert world recognition. The results of the work interested industrialists. Milliken was offered to advise Western Electric on the subject of vacuum appliances. Until 1926, the physicist remained an expert in the patent office.
