In 1909, Robert Millikan performed an experiment involving tiny, charged drops of oil. The drops were charged because they had picked up extra electrons. Millikan was able to measure the charge on each drop in coulombs. Here is an example of what his data may have looked like.

Drop Charge (C)
A 3.20 x 10^-19
B 4.80 x 10^-19
C 8.00 x 10^-19
D 9.60 x 10^-19

In Millikan's experiment, the charge on each drop of oil was measured in coulombs. Imagine the same experiment, but with charges measured in a fictitious unit called a zeet (Z).
Drop Charge (Z)
A 1.38 × 10^−14
B 3.22 × 10^−14
C 3.68 × 10^−14
D 4.14 × 10^−14
E 5.98 × 10^−14

What is the charge on an electron in zeets?
Express your answer in zeets using two significant figures.

3 answers

Divide all of the numbers by the smallest, which makes it 1.00000. Then multiply each number obtain by some whole number (trial an error--2,3,4,5,6 etc) and round to whole numbers. I found three worked well. Then 1.38E-14/3 = the charge in zeets.
dmed
Question @DrBob222 at the end how do you divide including the negative can you show work for that