In the early 1900s, Robert Millikan used small charged droplets of oil, suspended in an electric field, to make the first quantitative measurements of the electron’s charge. A 0.70-μm-diameter droplet of oil, having a charge of +e, is suspended in midair between two horizontal plates of a parallel-plate capacitor. The upward electric force on the droplet is exactly balanced by the downward force of gravity. The oil has a density of 860 kg/m3, and the capacitor plates are 5.0 mm apart. What must the potential difference between the plates be to hold the droplet in equilibrium?

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In the early 1900s, Robert Millikan used small charged droplets of oil, suspended in an electric field, to make the first quantitative measurements of the electron’s charge. A 0.70-μm-diameter droplet of oil, having a charge of +e, is suspended in midair between two horizontal plates of a parallel-plate capacitor. The upward electric force on the droplet is exactly balanced by the downward force of gravity. The oil has a density of 860 kg/m3, and the capacitor plates are 5.0 mm apart. What must the potential difference between the plates be to hold the droplet in equilibrium?

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