the Electrometer was calibrated so that the lower and upper electrodes were at -2.6 V and +2.6 V respectively. Why are we allowed to do the calibration this way without changing the outcome of the experiment?
The electro-meter was calibrated so that the lower and upper electrodes were at -2.6 V and +2.6 V respectively. The calibration of the electro-meter uses the same voltage electrodes only that is applied to the standard resistors to set up the reference current. As for the same electrode voltage just in opposite direction the value of the calibrating coefficient is same so there would be no change in the outcome of the experiment.
The electrodes of opposite polarity are taken as the standard resistance is taken to determine the electro-meter calibration in the terms of charge and current as the risk of taking a wrong calibrating coefficient is minimized. When the calibration is performed in the terms of charge and current, the calibration can be traced in terms of voltage, resistance and time.
the Electrometer was calibrated so that the lower and upper electrodes were at -2.6 V and...