Exploring Brownian Motion with a Millikan Oil Drop Apparatus

• Jiazhong Zeng ^[1] ; Mingzhen Shao ^[2] ; Xiaoqi Zeng ^[2]
  1. [1] South China University of Technology

     South China University of Technology

     China

     
  2. [2] Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 62, Nº. 7, 2024, págs. 579-582
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Historically, Brownian motion provided strong support for the atomic nature of matter.1–3 In 2021, German oceanographer Hasselmann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to climate evolution modeling. In analogy with Brownian motion, Hasselmann built the stochastic climate model and explained long-term climate variability caused by the short-term fluctuations of the atmosphere.3 Hasselmann’s stochastic climate model shows the application of Brownian motion theory in complex systems. In pedagogy, demonstrations and measurements of Brownian motion have been widely reported,4–9 for example, demonstrating a random walk4–7 and measuring Avogadro’s6–8 and Boltzmann’s9 constants. Recently, video recording and analysis4–7,9 made quantitative analysis of Brownian motion more convenient. In this paper, we study Brownian motion with a Millikan oil drop apparatus.