Name ________________________________________ Date ______________ Period ______

Lab: Making an Electroscope

CHAPTER 32: ELECTROSTATICS

Introduction: An ELECTROSCOPE is an instrument for detecting differences of electric

potential and hence electrification. The earliest form of scientific electroscope was the versorium
or electrical needle of William Gilbert (1544-1603). It consisted simply of a light metallic needle
balanced on a pivot like a compass needle. Gilbert employed it
to prove that numerous other bodies besides amber are
susceptible of being electrified by friction. In this case the visible
indication consisted in the attraction exerted between the
electrified body and the light pivoted
needle which was acted upon. The next improvement was the
invention of simple forms of repulsion electroscope. Two similarly
electrified bodies repel each other. Abraham Bennet invented the
modern form of gold-leaf electroscope. Inside a glass shade he fixed
to an insulated wire a pair of strips of gold-leaf. The wire terminated
in a plate or knob outside the vessel. When an electrified body was
held near or in contact with the knob, repulsion of the gold leaves
ensued.

In this lab you will be constructing and experimenting with your own
electroscope using some simple materials.

Materials:

1. Glass Jar with large mouth (biological specimen

jar w/ non-metalic lid)
2. 15 cm rigid copper wire (10 gauge sheathed)
3. wire strippers
4. 3 cm of thin copper wire (solid)
5. aluminum foil (heavy duty)
6. straight pin
7. hot glue gun
8. Glass and acrylic rod
9. wool or flannel cloth
10. Silk cloth

Proceedure:
PART 1: MAKING ELECTROSCOPE

1. Wash, rinse and dry glass jar and lid

2. Drill small hole slightly larger in diameter than the sheathed wire in the center of the
lid.

3. Take your thick piece of wire (15 cm long)

and strip off the insulation on about 12 cm on
one end

4. Strip the other end of the wire 3-4 mm.

5. Bend bare wire at right angle and roll up in a

spiral

6. Push wire through hole in lid and glue with

hot glue gun on both sides of lid (coiled
stripped end of wire is on top of lid) Allow to
cool.

7. Wrap the small bare wire on the other end

finishing by a circular hook.

8. Fold an aluminum foil on a thick piece of

paper. Cut out in the form of a triangle (about 1 ½” long and ¾” wide at base)

9. Cut out once again in the form of a pear and pierce with straight pin.

10. Hang foil on small hook you formed

11. Screw on plastic lid with wire and foil leaves onto top of jar. You are ready to begin

PART 2: CHARGING BY INDUCTION

1. Charge a glass rod positively by rubbing it with silk and bring the charged (rubbed) end
close to, but not in contact with, the ball terminal of the electroscope.

2. Observe the leaves of the electroscope diverge (go apart from each other).

3. Remove the charged rod away from the electroscope terminal and observe the leaves
collapse.

4. Repeat the entire procedure above and observe the leaves repeat the behavior.

5. Repeat the entire procedure above using an uncharged glass (or other) rod. Observe
that the leaves do not diverge.

6. Instead of the positively charged glass rod, use a negatively charged rod (rub acrylic
with wool or flannel) and repeat the experiment. Observe that the leaves behave
exactly as they did before for a positively charged rod.

7. Try a variation now. Bring a positively charged rod close to the electroscope terminal,
and with it still there, touch the terminal with your finger. Then remove the rod. Notice
that the diverged leaves remain diverged, instead of collapsing as they did in steps 3
and 4.
8. Collapse the leaves by touching the terminal with your finger.

9. Repeat step 7 using a negatively charged rod. Observe that the leaves behave exactly
as they did for a positively charged rod.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. The picture on the left below illustrates an

uncharged electroscope. The picture on the
right illustrates bringing a positively charged
rod close to the electroscope as in step 2.
Label the charges inside the terminal and on
the leaves appropriately.

2. The previous experiment illustrates charging by electrostatic induction where a charged body
induces an opposite charge in an uncharged body (the electroscope in this case). Explain
how this works and why the leaves diverge.

Electrostatic induction occurs when a charged object is brought near an uncharged

object, causing a redistribution of charges without direct contact between the objects. In
this experiment, when a positively charged rod is brought close to the uncharged
electroscope, the positive charges in the rod repel the electrons in the electroscope.
Electrons are negatively charged and tend to move away from the positively charged rod
towards the leaves of the electroscope, which are insulated and can move freely.
3. What makes the leaves collapse when the positively charged rod is removed as in step 2?

When the positively charged rod is removed in step 2, the leaves collapse because the
presence of the positively charged rod caused a charge separation in the electroscope. When
the rod is removed, the excess electrons distribute and neutralize the charge, causing the
leaves to collapse.

4. Why do the leaves retain their charge when you touch the terminal with you finger as in step
7?
After bringing a positively charged rod close to the terminal in step 7, the leaves retain
their charge because touching the terminal with your finger allows the excess charge to
escape or equalize with the ground. Because the human body is a conductor, when you
touch the terminal, the excess charge flows through your body to the ground, leaving the
leaves charged in the same way as the rod.

5. The picture on the left below illustrates a positive charge near an electroscope. The terminal
is then touched by the finger. The picture on the right illustrates the end result after the finger
and rod are removed as in step 7. Label the charges inside the terminal and on the leaves
appropriately

PART 3: CHARGING BY CONTACT

1. Bring a positively charged rod close to the terminal and see the leaves diverge.
2. Touch the terminal with the charged end of the rod, note that the leaves remain
diverged.
3. Remove the rod and observe that the leaves still remain diverged.
4. Discharge the electroscope by touching it with your finger.
5. Repeat the steps above, this time using a negatively charged rod. Note that the leaves
behave in the same way as before and remain diverged.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Describe how charging by conduction works. Be sure to explain why the leaves remain
diverged after the terminal is touched.

Charging by conduction, in essence, is simply the transfer of charges from a charged

object to an uncharged or neutral object by direct contact.
The process is similar to the concept of Osmosis in Biology, wherein the charged object
was the high concentration gradient and the neutral object was the low concentration
gradient, these differences in concentration caused a transfer of charges, hence
conduction.
The reason why the metal leaves remained split apart from one another is caused by the
same reason, there was still a source of charge that kept transferring either negative or
positive charge on both leaves and since like forces repel, the leaves were kept diverged.

2. Compare and contrast the processes of electrostatic induction and conduction.

The flow of charges for conduction is due to an applied electric field whilst induction is
due to the electromagnetic field. Their currents are also complete opposites, the current
in conduction goes along the same direction whilst the current in induction goes in the
opposite direction - picture a one-way highway for conduction and a two-way highway for
induction.

Both electrostatic induction and conduction involve the redistribution of charges. Both
processes can result in the creation of charged objects or regions. Electrostatic induction
does not involve direct contact between objects, while conduction requires direct contact
for charge transfer. Conduction involves the actual movement of charges, while induction
causes charge redistribution without the movement of charges between objects.

Induction

It results in the flow of current due to an electric field

It requires direct contact between charged and uncharged conductors

The current in both conductors flows in the same direction

Due to the transferring nature of charges, a gradient path is required

Decreases due to the distribution of charges

Conduction

It results in the flow of the current due to a change in the magnetic field

No direct contact is required between charged and uncharged bodies

The induced current is opposite in direction from the actual current

Due to inducing nature if charges graident path is not required

Remain constant

3. Design a testing procedure to determine the unknown charge of an object.

This procedure is heavily inspired by the experiments done by the scientist Michael
Faraday & Deacon Ewald Georg Von Kleist.

Test Objective: To Measure the unknown charge of an object.

Materials:
Glass Jar with Lid - Lid just only be plastic.
Aluminum Foil
Glue gun & Glue Stick
Duct Tape
Insulating Gloves
Multimeter or Voltmeter
Used Triple A Batteries - this will act as the unknown charge.
Wires
Carpet & a pair of socks (optional)

Step 1. Prepare the glass jar, aluminum foil, and glue gun.

Step 2. Carefully wrap the aluminum foil around the glass jar, remember to leave a small
gap for the wires, and glue using the glue gun.

Step 3. Strip both ends of the wire and carefully tape one end on the small gap.

Step 4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 on the inside of the jar.

Step 5. Drill a hole on the center of the lid, you can use the hot glue gun to melt a hole.
Just make sure to not touch it for a bit and tear off any glue that may have dripped.

Step 6. Put the wire connected to the inside of the jar through the lid and seal shut.

Note: the Leyden Jar is essentially a capacitor, meaning, it will store any charge that you
made via conduction - especially static charge. Ensure that it is properly insulated and
free from unintended contact during the experiment.

Step 6.1 (Testing - Optional) To charge the Leyden Jar, walk around a carpet, wearing
socks, whilst holding the outside foil of the jar - you should see some sparks of electricity
once you’ve created enough charge.

Main Experiment

Procedure:
Prepare the Leyden Jar:
Make sure that it’s clean & dry, wear insulating gloves when handling.
Ensure that it’s discharged, i.e in its neutral state.

Connect the Jar to the Multimeter/Voltmeter

Set the Multimeter/Voltmeter to measure DC voltage, properly calibrate it.

Put the Triple A Batteries in contact with the jar.

Make sure to wear insulating gloves and that there are no electrostatic objects in vicinity.

Measure the Voltage and record the reading (Not that sure with this procedure, but it
does get the voltage, I don’t exactly know their relationship with one another.)
Remember that charge is equal to the product of capacitance and voltage or Q = C * V.
This means that Voltage is inversely proportional to charge.