Name: Rhondene Wint - 24100032 Date: February 4, 2013 Lab Partners: Donald Smith, Shabina Mitchell, Cecil Malcolm,

Nathalia Allen Lab Instructors: Mr. Cedric Hanson Lab #: 4 TITLE: Static Electricity Aim/Objective: 1. To determine the presence and sign of charges on bodies by means of an electroscope, and to verify how charges can be induced by friction. 2. To investigate static properties of other materials provided during the lab. Method

Diagram of Showing The Set Up of Electroscope Apparatus

Procedure 1. The plastic rod was rubbed with the silk cloth for about a minute. 2. The rod was Held above the electroscope so that the leaves diverged. 3. A grounding wire was connected to the cap while the rod was still being held above the electroscope, so that the leaf would fall. 4. The rod was then removed, so that the leaf rose when it was positively charged. 5. Some materials were charged by induction using friction by rubbing them. Then the type of charge generated on each pair of materials that was rubbed was determined by bringing them close to the cap of the electroscope. 6. The point effect of charges was investigated by connecting a single wire to the positive of a 12V DC supply and by placing its bare end close to a candle flame. 7. All observations were noted. Apparatus Electroscope, silk cloth, glass rod, paper, plastic rod, pith balls, paper, wire, candle, power supply. Precautions 1. Care was taken to ensure the correct material was used to rub the correct rod 2. It was ensured that the never touched the electroscope.. 3. It was ensured that the rods were rubbed in one direction.

4. Care was taken to discharge the electroscope by grounding it. 5. It was ensured that the hands were continuously dried in order to reduce the amount of moisture on hands which can reduced the actual charge of the material. Accuracy of Errors 1. The materials may have impurities which would affect their charge. 2. Sometimes the electroscope was not sensitive enough to detect the charges on material 3. Humidity of air could also affect the experiment 4. The time taken to place the rod above the electroscope may have affected the charge on the rods. 5. The time taken to place the rod above the electroscope may have affected the charge on the rods.

Results The material used to rub the materials was wool. Table Showing The Resulting Degree of Deflection Of the Different Kind of Rods Types of Rod Degree/Unit of Deflection Glass Rod 15 Plastic 65 Aluminium o Acrylic 35 Rubber 75

Discussion This experiment sought to determine the presence and sign of charges on bodies by means of an electroscope, and to verify how charges can be induced by friction. As well as to investigate static properties of other materials provided during the lab. Electric charge is a physical property of matter which causes it to experience a force when near other electrically charged matter. The SI unit of electric charge is the Coulomb (C), although in electrical engineering it is also common to use the ampere-hour (Ah). Electric charge comes in two types, called positive and negative. Two positively charged substances, or objects, experience a mutual repulsive force, as do two negatively charged objects. Positively charged objects and negatively charged objects experience an attractive force. According to Coulombs Law, the force is exerted by two or more charges on each other is directly proportional to the product of the charges, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centre of mass, F = kQ1Q2/R2, where k is the Coulombs constant 8.998 Nm2/C2. An electric field is the force per unit charge that would act on a positive charge at certain point within the field. An electroscope is a device that detects charge in an object. An electroscope consist of an insulated case which has two small thin gold metal sheets, called leaves, in which one or both are movable. The leaves are then connected to a metal knob which protrudes outside the case.

Static electricity refers to the build up of electric charge on the surface of objects. The static charges remain on an object until they either bleed off to ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge. Static electricity can be contrasted with current (or dynamic) electricity, which can be delivered through wires as a power source. Although charge exchange can happen whenever any two surfaces come into contact and separate, a static charge only remains when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow. Materiasl can be charged by induction, conduction or friction. Charging by induction involves charging a neutral object by placing a charged object close it, without touching. The neutral object will acquire a charge opposite to the charged object. Charging by conduction involves charging an object by touching it with an already charged object; this results in both objects acquiring the same charge. Charging by friction involves rubbing two different objects together; this results in one material losing electrons to other creating an electrical imbalance. The effects of static electricity are familiar to most people because we can feel, hear, and even see the spark as the excess charge is neutralized when brought close to a large electrical

conductor, or a region with an excess charge of the opposite polarity. Applications. Static electricity is, for the most part, a nuisance. Black powder and smokeless powder have graphite added to prevent ignition due to static electricity. It causes damage to sensitive semiconductor circuitry. While it is possible to produce motors powered by high voltage and low current characteristic of static electricity, this is not economic. The few practical applications of static electricity include xerographic printing, the electrostatic air filter, and the high voltage Van de Graff generator. Explanation of Lab The rods used were made of rubber, acrylic and glass while the cloths used included silk wool and cotton that were used in this experiment with each rod. Each rod was rubbed with a cloth and placed over the electroscope and observed. Static electricity is created when an object gives up or gains electrons. The easiest way to charge a non-conductor is is by friction (rubbing) with wool, silk or fur. This results in transfer of electrons from one material to the other creating an imbalance of charge. The principal methods of conferring electric charge were evident in the lab- charging by friction, and by induction. When the rods were rubbed with the wool cloth, there was a transfer of electrons by friction between the cloth and the materials. The electrons are the mobile units of charge; protons under normal circumstances cannot move as they are tightly bound to the nucleus of the atom. If there is an accumulation of electrons, then the object has acquired a net negative charge; however if the object has lost electrons then it has a net positive charge. Now, when the charged rod was placed over the knob of the electroscope, without making contact, a separation of charges took place in which the knob acquired an opposite charge to the rod, while the leaves acquire the same

charge as the rod resulting in them repelling each other. For example, if the glass was positively charged it would cause the electrons to be attracted up to the knob leaving the leaves positively charged. The gold leaves deflected because they acquired the same charge and thus repelled each other with a force of F= k q1q2/r2. The size of deflection by the gold leaves infers the magnitude on the charge on the rods. By Coulombs law, the larger the charge, the greater the repulsive force will be. Rubber accumulated the greatest charge by friction, while aluminum was not charged at all. As a matter of fact, aluminum was only material that was not charged by friction. Another interesting observation is that, all the materials that were charged are insulators compared to aluminum which is a conductor. Why is that Aluminum was not charged by friction? Conductors can be charged by friction like insulators, but they must be insulated from Earth while doing so otherwise the charge they acquire will continually be conducted to Earth. Holding the conductor by hand allows this to happen. Aluminum is a good conductor thus the stolen electrons from the wool were dissipated along the length of the aluminum faster than more are stolen hence there is no build up charge on the aluminum. A rubber glove should have worn while charging the aluminum, or the aluminum should have been grounded first. The charges acquired by insulators cannot discharge when handheld because they are held in place by the atoms. Although charge exchange can happen whenever any two surfaces come into contact and separate, a static charge only remains when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow; thus insulators are best charged by friction. Earthing/ grounding is the process of allowing all of an object to have a single charge when they are charged by induction. The earths crust possess a moderate degree of electrical conductivity, and hold a large potential as a charge reservoir. In grounding, a wire is connected to the neutral object which then charged by induction. The electrons which are repelled in the object travel

through the wire and then go into the earth. However if the wire is disconnected, the electrons move back into the object making the object neutral again. The Flame Test Flames ionize the air immediately in contact. The flame itself glows orange or blue depending on the presence of predominantly positive or negative charges depending on the dominant gases present. As such the flame will be attracted or repelled by a polarized wire brought close. One drawback with this experiment was that the sign of the charge on the rods were not determined. This could have been done by charging the electroscope by conduction to give it a net charge, so that when the charged rod of unknown sign is placed near the rod, if the leaves separate then the object has the same charge as the electroscope, and if the leaves come closer together then the object has opposite charge. Conclusion Within the limits of the experiments, it was demonstrated that materials can be charged by friction, however insulators are best charged by friction because of the nature of their atomic structure they can hold on to the transferred electrons resulting in an accumulation of charges on the surfaces. However, good conductors, like aluminium can also be charged by friction, but they must be grounded first because conductors will dissipate their stolen quickly, not allowing a charge to build up. The experiment also inferred that the best insulator of the samples was the rubber because it accumulated the most charge resulting a greater deflection of the gold plates. An electroscope by itself can only infer whether or not an object is charged and the qualitative magnitude of the charge, but not the sign of the charge without charging it by conduction to give a known charge. Although charge exchange can happen whenever any two surfaces come into

contact and separate, a static charge only remains when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow; thus insulators are best charged by friction.

Questions

1. What is the difference between materials classified as conductors versus those classified as insulators, in the electrical sense of these words? Ans. Materials are classified as conductors or insulators based on their ability to conduct or transport electricity. Electrons are mobile units of electricity. Conductors are objects whose structures have free or mobile electrons which can easily transport their charges from place to place. In contrast, insulators are materials whose electrons are tightly bound to their nucleus therefore cannot transport electricity with ease.

2. Identify five substances that are good conductors of electricity, and five substances that are good insulators of electricity.

Conductors- Copper, Gold, Silver, Sodium Chloride solution, Aluminum Insulators- Wool, Cotton, Air, Wood, Rubber, Plastic 3. What does the breakdown voltage (also known as dielectric strength) rating for an electrically insulating substance mean?

The breakdown voltage of an insulator is the minimum voltage that causes a portion of an insulator to become electrically conductive.

References

Giancoli, Douglas. Physics: Principles with Applications. Sixth Edition. Pearson, Prentice Hill. New Jersey. (2004). Hewitt, Paul G. .Conceptual Physics. (11th Edition). Addison-Wesley. New York. (2009) Serway, Ray. Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Second Edition. (1986). Saunders Publishing House, New York

Aluminum Rod

Plastic rod

Rubber Rod

Glass Rod

electroscope