Lab 02: Charges, Electric Force and Electric Field

You will need to run a simulation to do the lab. Answer the following questions as you work
through the lab. Write your answers in blue. Re-load the file in Word or PDF format in Moodle
before the due date. CHRIS SMITH- I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO MAKE ACROBAT WRITE IN BLUE
Lab Objective:
1. Learn how electric charges interact with an external electric field.
2. Understand the vector nature of electric force between charges and an external electric field.

Material: Stop watch (e.g. you can use your smartphone for this).

Introduction:

The electric force acting on a charge q in an external electric field E    is given by the relation 𝑭!" = 𝑞𝑬 .
The stronger the external field, the larger the electric force. Also, a large charge can experience a large
force in a weak electric field. In this lab, you will simulate the force acting on a charged particle in an
external electric field. This lab is mostly qualitative.

Simulation:
Open the Electric Field of Dreams simulation in the PhET.colorado.edu website.
https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/efield
Take a few minutes to become familiar with the simulation. Click all the buttons, check the “properties” of
your charge. Change the values of mass and charge. Change the size and direction of the “external
electric field” by dragging the blue dot (see figure below). For the simulations below, set the length of the
electric field vector to about 1cm (see figure below), unless stated otherwise.

Change this

Simulation  created  by  the  Physics  Education  Technology  Project  (PhET)  c/o  The  University  of  Colorado  at  Boulder  http://phet.colorado.edu/  
 
 UNSURE HOW TO MAKE ACROBAT WRITE IN BLUE!!!!!

1a. Force on a positive charge:

i. Click on the Properties button. Set the charge to 0.10 and the mass to 10. Click on the Add button.
You should see a blue charge moving under the influence of the external electric field. Pause the
motion of the charge and drag it to the middle of the box. “Play” the simulation again.

Q1: Which direction does the charge move?

a. Along the direction of 𝑬 b. Opposite of the direction of 𝑬

A- ALONG THE DIRECTION OF E->

Q2: What is the direction of electric force 𝑭?

a. Along the direction of 𝑬 b. Opposite of the direction of 𝑬

A - ALONG THE DIRECTION OF E->
ii. Set the direction of the electric field so that it points to the right.

Q3: What direction does the charge move? TO THE RIGHT

________________

iii. Set the electric field, 𝑬 in different direction and fill out the table below. Try to keep the magnitude
of 𝑬 constant. Keep the mass at 10. Start the charge at a location that will allow for maximum
travel. All observations should be made on the motion before the first bounce on the wall.

Charge Direction of 𝑬 Direction of Direction of 𝑭 Describe the motion

motion
mass moves to the right along
the charges- speed increases
0.1
right right over time

mass moves up along the charge

0.1 up up speed increases over time

mass moves left along charge

0.1
left left speed increases over time
mass moves down
0.1 along charge, increases
down down speed over time
right mass moves right along charges
1.0 speed increases slightly faster
right

right right same^

5.0

same^ (faster)
10.0
right right
right
same^ (super fast)
20.0
right

Simulation  created  by  the  Physics  Education  Technology  Project  (PhET)  c/o  The  University  of  Colorado  at  Boulder  http://phet.colorado.edu/  
 
1b. Force on a negative charge:
iv. Click on the Properties button. Set the charge to -0.10 and the mass to 10. Repeat similar steps used
in part 1a.

Q4: Which direction does the charge move?

a. Along the direction of 𝑬 b. Opposite of the direction of 𝑬

B opposite of direction of E

Q5: What is the direction of electric force 𝑭?

B opposite of direction of E
a. Along the direction of 𝑬 b. Opposite of the direction of 𝑬

i. Set the direction of the electric field so that it points to the right.

Q6: What direction does the charge move? left

________________

ii. Set the direction of the electric field, 𝑬 in different direction and fill out the table below. Try to keep
the magnitude of 𝑬 constant. Keep the mass at 10.

Charge Direction of 𝑬 Direction of Direction of 𝑭 Describe the motion

motion
mass moves left opposite
-0.1 left left charge

down mass moves down opposite

-0.1 charge
down
right right mass moves right opposite
-0.1 charge

up up mass moves up opposite charge

-0.1

left mass moves left opposite charge

-1.0 slightly faster
left

left same^, even faster

-5.0
left

left same^, faster

-10.0
left

same^, super fast

-20.0
left left

Simulation  created  by  the  Physics  Education  Technology  Project  (PhET)  c/o  The  University  of  Colorado  at  Boulder  http://phet.colorado.edu/  
 
2. Electric force as a function of the magnitude of the electric field, 𝑬 .

For this part of the lab, you will keep the magnitude of the charge fixed and change the magnitude of 𝑬
2a. Force on a positive charge: Set the size of the charge to 0.5 and keep the mass at 10.
i. Set the magnitude (the arrow) of 𝑬 to very small (almost zero). Label this as E0. Describe the motion of
the charge in the space below. Do the same for four different magnitudes of 𝑬. Describe the motion for
each of the cases. Make sure you write the relative size of the electric field you use (e.g. E1 = 2E0, E2 =
4E0…etc.). This doesn’t have to be exact.

1. E0 : very slow in direction of E *** E2=2E1, E3=3E1, etc***

2. E1 : slightly faster in direction of E

3. E2 : faster, same direction

4. E3 : faster, same direction

5. E4 : faster, same direction

2b. Force on a negative charge: Set the size of the charge to -0.5 and keep the mass at 10.
i. Set the magnitude (the arrow) of 𝑬 to very small (almost zero). Label this as E0. Describe the motion of
the charge in the space below. Do the same for four different magnitudes of 𝑬. Describe the motion for
each of the cases. Make sure you write the relative size of the electric field (e.g. E1 = 2E0, E2 = 4E0…etc)
** SAME AS ^^ E2=2E1, E3=3E1, etc ***
1. E0 : very slow opposite direction of E

2. E1 : slightly faster, same direction

3. E2 : faster same direction

4. E3 : faster same direction

5. E4 : faster same direction

Summary of electric force on a charge in an external electric field:

Force on a charge in an external electric field 𝑬 is given by 𝑭𝒆𝒍 = 𝑞𝑬 . Answer the following questions.

1. If the charge is positive it will move in the same /opposite direction of the electric field.
same
2. If the charge is negative it will move in the same /opposite direction of the electric field.
opposite

Simulation  created  by  the  Physics  Education  Technology  Project  (PhET)  c/o  The  University  of  Colorado  at  Boulder  http://phet.colorado.edu/  
 
 3. A 2.0mC charge in an external field of 20N/C , North will experience a force of:
0.04 N
_______________ the same of E
Newtons, the direction of the force is _____________

1.5 x 10^-6 N
4. A – 5nC charge in an external field 300N/C, North will experience a force of _______________
opposite of
Newtons, the direction of the force is _____________ E

3. Newton’s Second Law and Electric Force

Force on a charge in an external electric field 𝑬 is given by 𝑭𝒆𝒍 = 𝑞𝑬 . According to Newton’s second
law: 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎; where m = mass and a = acceleration of the object. If the only force acting on the
object is the electric force 𝑭𝒆𝒍 , then we can write

𝑞𝑬 = 𝑚𝒂 (1.1)

The magnitude of the acceleration in one dimension can be written as

!
𝑎= 𝐸 (1.2)
!

3a: For this part of the experiment, we will change the mass of the charge and observe the acceleration
of the object as a function of mass, m and magnitude of the charge q, keeping the electric field constant.

i. Set the length of the electric field vector to about 1 cm as in part 1. Describe the motion of the charge
for the following cases. Remember to click on “reset all” after changing any variable in the
“properties”. Use a stopwatch to record the time it takes for the charge to go from one end of the
box to the other end. This gives you some idea about how fast the charge is moving by the time it has
reached the opposite end of the box.

Charge and mass Time (sec) Observation

10.44 Mass accelerates throughout journey

1. q=-0.2, m = 20

2. q = -0.2, m = 0.2
1.12 mass moves across the field very quickly.
3. q=0.1, m=50 21.60 mass moves very slowly, little to no
acceleration

4. q=0.1, m=10 accelerates constantly

10.56
5. q=0.1, m =2 4.77 accelerates quickly

6. q=0.1, m=0.2 acceleration unseen, mass moves

1.48 very quickly

7. q=0.2, m=10 constant acceleration from very slow, to moderate

speed
6.58
constant acceleration, but slow
8. q=0.4, m=20 to moderate speed
6.77

Simulation  created  by  the  Physics  Education  Technology  Project  (PhET)  c/o  The  University  of  Colorado  at  Boulder  http://phet.colorado.edu/  
 
 Summary of part 3: Answer the following questions:
Q7. What relation can you state about the acceleration of the charge and it mass? Describe the
mathematical relation, such as “directly proportional “, or “inversely proportional” …etc.
The acceleration in relation with the charge is directly proportional- increasing charge increases acceleration
acceleration in relation with mass, however, is inversely proportional as increasing mass decreases acceleration

Q8. What relation did you see in trials 7 and 8? Does it match with the mathematical relation between the
acceleration, mass and the charge given in Eq. 1.2?

The relation I discussed in Q7 is accurate for trials 7 and 8. The time for each was nearly identical, showing that equation 1.2
is an accurate representation of finding acceleration given mass and charge.

Q9. An electron (𝑚 = 9.11×10!!" 𝐾𝑔 and charge 𝑞 = −1.60×10!!" 𝐶 ) is

inside a parallel plate capacitor as shown in the figure. The electric field
(shown with red arrow) has a magnitude of 2000N/C. The electron is initially
at rest. Answer the following questions.

i. What is the force on the electron (magnitude and direction)?

-3200 X 10^-19 N. Directed opposite the field (so, up).

ii. What is the acceleration of the electron?

-3.51 X 10^-14 m/s/s.

Q10. Replace the electron in above question with a proton (𝑚 = 1.67×10!!" 𝐾𝑔 and charge 𝑞 =
+1.60×10!!" 𝐶 ).
i. What is the force on the proton?
3.2 X 10^-16

ii. What is the acceleration of the proton?

1.92 X 10^11 m/s/s

Simulation  created  by  the  Physics  Education  Technology  Project  (PhET)  c/o  The  University  of  Colorado  at  Boulder  http://phet.colorado.edu/