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INVESTIGATING STATIC ELECTRICITY USING AN ELECTROSCOPE Introduction In this experiment, you will investigate the two different types of electric charges; how opposite charges can be separated, collected, identified and transferred by contact and induction. The materials required include rubber and PVC rod, rabbit fur, wool, plastic strips (+/-), various cloths, an electroscope. Part I: Charging the Electroscope Rub the rod with the fur. Hold the rubber rod close to the knob on top of the electroscope without touching it. Then take the rod away. What do you observe?
The leaf moved all the way.

Is the electroscope still electrically neutral? Describe why and justify your answer.
Yes, because it went back to its original state.

Describe the distribution of charges on the electroscope when the charged rod is held close the electroscope.
The electrons are transferred from the rod to the electroscope.

Part II: Conduction Rub the rubber rod again with fur and touch the knob on top of the electroscope with the rod. What do you observe? What happened to cause this phenomenon?
The leave satyed displaced. This is because now its charged with the excess electrons from the rod.

Now touch the electroscope with your finger. What happened? Explain how it happened?
The leaf went back to place because the excess electrons traveled to the finger.

Describe the path taken by the excess electrons.

From the fur, to rod, to electroscpe, to the finger.

Using a neutral electroscope, repeat the steps taken with the rubber rod but this time use the plastic strip charged by rubbing with the cloth. Were your observations the same or different? Why?
They were different. The plastic strip did not pick up electrons from the fur.

Discharge the electroscope by touching the knob. Use the rubber rod and fur to place a negative charge on the electroscope. Charge the plastic strip by rubbing it with the cloth. Bring the charged plastic strip near the negatively charged electroscope. Do your observations suggest that the plastic strip has a positive or negative charge? Explain your answer by referring to your observations.
The plastic strip got positive.

Induction Neutralize the electroscope again. Rub the fur on the rubber rod and hold it close to the electroscope without touching it. While still holding the rod near the scope doing this, momentarily touch the knob of the electroscope with your finger and take your hand away but still hold the rod near the scope. Now remove the charged rod. What happened? Is the scope charged? How? Why did the scope get charged? Describe the path taken by the excess electrons when you touched the scope. If the electroscope is charged, what charge does it have - positive or negative? Explain why.
The leaf is still displaced. The scope is still charged. The scope is still charged because there was an transfer of electrons. The elctrons went from the fur, to the rod, to my hand, and into the electroscope. If the electroscope is charged, it has a negative

Construct An Electrophorus: Using pink (or blue) insulation board and a pie tin with an insulating handle we can construct a device that generates static electric charge, invented by Volta, called an electrophorus. Tape a coffee cup as an insulating handle bottom up onto the inside surface of an aluminum pie tin. Now rub the insulation board with the fur; then place the pie tin on the board. Touch the edge of the pie tin with your finger. Do you feel or see a spark? Explain what occurred. What charge has been placed on the insulation board? What charge is on the pie tin? Explain why.
We felt a small shock on our hand. The insulation board received negative charge. The pie tin also received electron meaning it was negatively charged.

Charge the electroscope by contact with the charged pie tin. How does the electroscope respond when the charged pie tin is brought nearby? Touch the scope with the charged pie tin. Test the sign of the charge on the scope using a charged rod. Test the sign of the charge on the scope using the charged plastic strip. Describe what is observed in both cases.
The leaf was slightly displaced. Again, the leaf was slightly displaced.

Repulsion of a known charge by another (same) charge is the only real proof of the sign of the unknown charge. Explain why?
Because similar charges repel, so if you place a positive charge and it repels, then you know that the opposite object has a positive charge, and vice versa.