Chapter 2, Problem 19E

The following observations were made for a series of five oil drops an experiment similar to Millikan's (see Figure 2-8). Drop 1 carried acharge of $1.28\times {10}^{-18}$ C drops 2 and 3 each carried $\frac{1}{2}$ the charge of drop 1; drop 4 carried $\frac{1}{8}$ the charge of drop 1; drop 5 had a charge four times that of drop 1. Are these data consistent with the value of the electronic charge given in the text? Could Millikan have inferred the charge on the electron from this particular series of data? Explain.