Simple do-it-yourself experimental set-up for electron charge $q_e$ measurement

Abstract

A simple experiment for the electron charge $q_e$ measurement is described. The experimental set-up contains standard electronic equipment only and can be built in every high-school lab all around the world with pocket money budget for several days. It is concluded that it is time such a practice to be included in the regular high-school education. The achieved 13\% accuracy is comparable to the best student university labs. The measurement is based on Schottky noise generated by a photodiode. Using the criterion dollar per accuracy for the electron charge $q_e$ measurement, this definitely is the world's best educational experiment. An industrial replica can be easily sold across the globe.

10 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables, last version corresponds to the published version in Eur. J. Phys, Eq. (15-17) have been corrected and minor typographical improvements have been made