Names of group members: Aydin, Rayyan,Vivaan, Zeyshaan
Electroscope Lab
Objectives:
• Understand which charges move, which charges do not move, and why.
• Identify when an object is being charges through induction, conduction, or
friction.
• Draw the movement of charges on an object that is being charged.
• Apply the golden rule of electrostatics to explain attraction and repulsion of
charged objects.
Pre-Lab: Discuss
1. Which type of charge can move? Why?
Negative, because these charges are electrons that can move between
atoms in the conducting material that forms the circuit.
2.
Golden Rule of Electrostatics:
Golden rule of electrostatics is that only negative charges move in electricity.
Step 1: Build Your Own Electroscope
An electroscope is an instrument used by scientist to measure the relative strength
of an electric charge. In this activity, we will build a simplified version of an
electroscope to study and explore static electric charges.
Part A: Charging Temporarily by Induction
1. PREDICT: What will happen if you move a negatively charged object near the foil
ball on the top of your electroscope
2. OBSERVE: Blow up your balloon and rub it vigorously against your hair, a cotton
t-shirt, a wool sweater, etc. Bring the charged balloon CLOSE TO (BUT NOT
TOUCHING) the foil ball. Observe what happens. Move the balloon away from
the electroscope. Observe what happens
You may choose to write in words or draw your observation.
Question 1
We predict that it will not do anything.
We saw that the leaves repelled each other, and the negative charges Flowed
to the Both leaves. Like Charges repel.
3. EXPLAIN: What made the leaves move? Why did they move back to the original
position after you removed the balloon. Can you explain this using the concepts
of charges and electrons? Think about how similarly charged objects behave.
The leaves moved because the negative charges flowed to the leaves, and
both of the leaves became negatively charged, which caused them to repel
against each other . The negative charges flowed to the foil when the ruler was
in contact with each other.it also got charged by induction removed.
Part B: Charging Permanently by Induction
1. PREDICT: If you "ground" the electroscope by touching it with your finger, what
do you think will happen?
OBSERVE: Charge the balloon again and hold it near the ball. At the same time,
touch the ball with your finger. Observe what happens. Now remove the balloon
and your finger at the same time. Observe what happens.
Predict - It will not work because the electrons will be transformed to the skin.
Observe – Our prediction was right the electrons get transferred to our finger
then it get transferred to the earth because the earth has a magnetic field that
attracts the electrons.
2. EXPLAIN: This is called charging by induction, as you have induced a charge
onto the electroscope. How does charging permanently differ from charging
temporarily?
If you temporarily charge it you can reverse the charging by bringing
it close to the opposite charge but in this case the electrons get
transferred to the earth so the electrons are lost.
Part C: Charging by Conduction
1. To charge an object by conduction means to charge a certain body with
contact. It can be either Negatively or positively charged
2. Recharge the balloon again and touch it to the metal ball. ( Look closely at
the leaves)
The leaves seems to repel from each other, The negative charges
Let’s make sense of your observations:
3. Draw the charges on your electroscope.
4. a) What do you notice about the total number of positive charges on the
electroscope?
Ans: The positive charges seem to flow to the ruler
b) What do you notice about the total number of negative charges on the
electroscope?
Ans: The negative charges seem to increase in the leaves.
c) What do you notice about the net charge on the electroscope?
Ans: The positive charges have increased and negative charges decreased
5. a) What do you notice about the total number of positive charges on the left
and right leaves?
Ans: The left and right leaves repel because both are negative, And unlike charges repel .
Most of the positive charges flowed to the ruler.
b) What do you notice about the total number of negative charges on the left
and right leaves?
Ans: The negative charges seem to have increased and the positive charges have decreased
c) What do you notice about the net charge on the left and right leaves?
Ans: The negative charges seem to have increased and the positive charges have decreased
6. How are induction and conduction different?
(Hint: What happens to the total number of negative charges on the
electroscope for each?)
Ans: Conduction is charging with contact and induction is charging without contact.
7. Write 2-3 sentences explaining your observations.
Ans: The foil gets attracted because it is positive ,and the negative charges
How good was your method? Were there any limitations or hindrances that
affected your observations?
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Even better if
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AFL Electroscope
What would happen if you brought a positively charged object near a neutral
electroscope?
1. State your hypothesis.
2. To support your hypothesis, draw the charges on the electroscope.
3. Is this an example of charging by induction or conduction? How do you
know?
