Reese Salmon et al 2002 Eur. J. Phys. 23 249 doi:10.1088/0143-0807/23/3/302
Reese Salmon, Candace Robbins and Kyle Forinash1
Show affiliationsAlthough other researchers had previously observed the random motion of pollen grains suspended in water through a microscope, Robert Brown's name is associated with this behaviour based on observations he made in 1828. It was not until Einstein's work in the early 1900s however, that the origin of this irregular motion was established to be the result of collisions with molecules which were so small as to be invisible in a light microscope (Einstein A 1965 Investigations on the Theory of the Brownian Movement ed R Furth (New York: Dover) (transl. Cowper A D) (5 papers)). Jean Perrin in 1908 (Perrin J 1923 Atoms (New York: Van Nostrand-Reinhold) (transl. Hammick D)) was able, through a series of painstaking experiments, to establish the validity of Einstein's equation. We describe here the details of a junior level undergraduate physics laboratory experiment where students used a microscope, a video camera and video capture software to verify Einstein's famous calculation of 1905.
04.20.-q Classical general relativity
07.07.Hj Display and recording equipment, oscilloscopes, TV cameras, etc.
Issue 3 (May 2002)
Received 14 February 2002
Published 27 March 2002
Reese Salmon et al 2002 Eur. J. Phys. 23 249
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