1.

Electrostatics Experiment
Purpose
The goal of this experiment is to measure the charge on an object using two different instruments: an
electroscope and an electronic charge sensor. You will learn how to use the Logger Pro software to record
and analyze data.

Apparatus
The following instruments will be used in this experiment:
Electroscope Electronic charge sensor
Plastic rod Metallic can
Piece of fur Lab Quest Mini Interface

Figure 1. Electrostatics experimental equipment.

Theory
Accumulation of static electricity is a very common phenomenon, one of its most dramatic examples is
lightning a rapid discharge of static electricity accumulated in clouds. Observing the presence of static
electricity on a smaller scale requires the use of a material that can donate electric charges (e.g. fur) and
another that can accumulate electric charges (e.g. plastic rod).

When such materials are brought into frictional contact, a transfer of charges occurs due to the triboelectric
effect: electrons from the fur are transferred to the insulating plastic rod, leaving it negatively charged. In
a similar way, contact between glass and fur transfers electrons from the glass to the fur, leaving the glass
positively charged. Using these methods, we are able to perform experiments with both excess negative
charges and excess positive charges (an absence of negative charges).
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The force between two point-like charges (1 and 2 ) that are separated by a distance () is described by
Coulombs Law:
1 1 2 (1.1)
= 2
4
C2
where = 8.85 1012 Nm2 is the permittivity of free space, a constant that represents a fundamental
aspect of nature: the capability of free space (i.e. a vacuum) to allow electric fields to exist. Although
permittivity changes in materials, for the purposes of this experiment we can say that the value of is
negligibly different from the permittivity of free space within air.

Charges of the same sign produce a positive, repulsive force and charges of opposite sign produce a
negative, attractive force. Static charges placed on insulators (glass, plastic) will remain fixed in place
despite the electrostatic repulsion between them. Conversely, static charges placed in conductors are free
to move within the material based on the electrostatic forces between them. Therefore, same sign charges
placed on a conductor will try to get as far away from each other as possible. An electroscope is a very
simple charge detector that exploits this behaviour.
The Electroscope
An electroscope consists of a pair of identical lightweight, conducting leaves (metallic plates) that are free
to rotate about one end, like a physical pendulum, as illustrated in Fig. 2. These leaves are enclosed in an
insulating, glass jar, and connected via a conductor to the outside. The device acts like a charge sensor.

A plastic rod and fur will be used to produce the electric charges. Frictional motion between the two will
leave the plastic rod negatively charged. The amount of accumulated charge on the rod is not fixed and
depends on factors such as humidity, the physical dimensions and properties of the fur and rod, and the
process producing the contact friction. Thus, each experiment will produce a different amount of charge.

Figure 2. Electroscope schematics for a. Uncharged plates, b. Charged plates.

When uncharged and in equilibrium, the electroscope leaves hang vertically, at rest. When a static electric
charge is brought near to the charge sensor, it will push charges through the conductors, inducing an
unbalanced charge in the leaves. Both leaves will have the same sign of charge, and therefore will
experience an electrostatic repulsion that pushes the leaves apart (shown in Fig. 2b). Gravity will exert a
downward force on the leaves, which balances against the electrostatic repulsion. By balancing the torque
from the two forces, the amount of charge induced on the leaves can be calculated.

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Figure 3. Simplified force diagram of the electroscope leaves. is the length of the leaves, is the Coulomb
force, is the gravitational force and is the distance between the tips of the leaves.
Each leaf will have a charge that produces the Coulomb force.

When the plastic rod is charged and brought close to the electroscope, the distance between the tip of the
leaves, , can be measured. The angle of separation, , between the leaves of length can be determined
as follows
(2) (1.2)
sin ( ) = = 2 sin1 ( )
2 2
The excess charges on the leaves are non-uniformly distributed over them. Because we have no way to
know such distribution, we will use an approximating model where the distribution of the excess charges
on the leaves is located at their tips. Since each leaf has a charge and both leaves should be equally
charged, the Coulomb force is given by
2 (1.3)
=
4 2

Since the leaves are in equilibrium (i.e. no acceleration), the sum of the torques due to gravity ( ) and
due to the electrostatic force ( ) should be equal to 0.

+ = 0 (1.4)

Based on the diagram in Fig. 3, the torque due to gravity, , is positive (counter-clockwise) while the
torque due to the electrostatic force, , is negative (clockwise) and they are defined as

= (2 sin ( 2)) ; = (cos (2))
(1.5)

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The force due to gravity is given by = , where = 9.8 2 . Rearranging Eq. (1.4) and Eq. (1.5)
shows us that the magnitude of the torques must be equal and we have that

2 (1.6)
( sin ( )) = 2
(cos ( ))
2 2 4 2

Solving for the charge on each leaf, we get

(1.7)
= 2 2 tan(2)
C2
where = 8.85 1012 Nm2 and = 9.8 2.

To determine the number of charge carriers (i.e. electrons) that this amount of charge represents, we can
use the following expression
(1.8)
=

Where = 1.602 1019 is the elementary charge (the amount of charge that a single electron has).

Important note: Because the electroscope has two leaves, the charge measured using this method is half
of the charge on the plastic rod. As a result, you will need to compare the charge measured using the
electronic charge sensor to 2.

= 2 (1.9)

How to Report your values

When reporting an important value with its error, use this format:
(measurement error)
When you use scientific notation, the exponent should be the same for both the error and the
measurement and should be placed outside the parenthesis.
(measurement error) 10
You also need to use the right number of digits in both the measurements and the error. We dont want
to have a measurement more precise, or less precise than the error.

Significant figures rule

1. Start with your error. Round your error to 2 significant figures. If reading error, round to 1 sig fig.
2. Round the measurement to keep the same precision (same number of decimal places).

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Procedure
In this experiment you will charge the plastic rod, calculate its charge from the electroscope and compare
it to the measured charge using the electronic charge sensor, the Lab Quest MINI interface and the Logger
Pro software.
Part A. Charge on plastic rod from Electroscope.

1. Convince yourself that the electroscope detects the presence of charge.

Discharge the electroscope by touching the top of it with your hand. The plates should almost
touch each other.

Charge the plastic rod by rubbing it against the fur. Negative charges are transferred from the fur
to the plastic rod. The rod is negatively charged and the fur is positively charged.

Bring the plastic rod close to the electroscope; the plates should separate as illustrated in Fig 4.

Figure 4. Expected behavior of the electroscope. a. Neutral, b. Induced charge, c. Transferred charge.

2. Estimate the distance between the tip of the leaves by measuring it with a ruler or meter stick.
3. Calculate the angle, , between the leaves using Eq. 1.2. The length of each leaf is = .
4. Determine the charge on each leaf of the electroscope using Eq. 1.7. The mass of each leaf is =
. .

In order to get the correct answer of charge in Coulombs, you will need to convert all quantities
to S.I. base units (metres, kilograms, etc).
5. Calculate the total charge on the plastic rod, .
Assume that the error on is 10% of its value. Call this error the Given Error ().
= 0.1 (1.10)
6. Calculate how many electrons correspond to the measured charge, using Eq. 1.8.

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Part B. Charge on plastic rod from Electronic Charge Sensor.

1. In this part of the experiment you will measure the charge on the plastic rod using the electronic
charge sensor and the inner metallic container as your detector. Setup the sensor as shown in Fig 5.

Plastic Rod

To Lab Quest Mini

Metallic Container

Figure 5. Setup for measuring the charge on the plastic rod using the electronic charge sensor.

Take the red alligator clip and connect it to the inner metallic container. This container will be
your detector.

Connect the black alligator clip to the outer container. This container will shield the inner one
from stray electric fields generated by you or the environment.

Place the switch on the charge sensor to +/- 10 V.

2. Download the Electrostatics Logger Pro File from CuLearn and open it.

Youll see the charge measured by the charge sensor at the bottom left of the screen. If you start
the data acquisition ( ), you will also see a graph of the measurement as a function of
time.

The charge sensor may accumulate a charge due to conductivity and contact from the environment,
so you will need to reset the sensor by pressing the Reset Zero/Null button (gray button the side
of the device).

3. Measure the charge on the plastic rod using the electronic charge sensor.

Charge the plastic rod by rubbing it against the fur as you did in part A.

Start data collection. Insert the rod in the detector making sure that the rod is not touching the
inner walls of the can.

Leave the plastic rod in the can for 10 seconds and then remove it. Stop the data collection.

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4. On Logger Pro, calculate the statistics of the dataset (average, standard deviation, number of data
points, etc...) over the period of time when the rod was in the metal container.

To do so, go to Analyze > Statistics on the main menu or click on the STAT ( ) button.

Adjust the range of the statistics function by adjusting the brackets [ ] to the left and right of your
graph: click and drag them on the graph to only include the period of time you are interested in.

Make sure that the STAT panel is not covering any part of your graph.

5. Record the average measured charge on the plastic rod, , its standard deviation (std. dev.), and the
number of data points measured.
When using multiple measurements, the error on the measured value is given by the statistical
error (, also called standard deviation of the mean).
. . (1.11)
=
#
6. Add a descriptive title (explanatory sentence) to your graph by double clicking at the top of the graph.

Adjust the scale of your graph by clicking the icon on the top menu and make sure that the analysis
panels are not covering your data.

7. Print your graph. Go to File > Print, enter your name and student number in the Name section and
your workstation number in the Comment section. Make sure that the graph is printed in landscape
form.

Figure 6. Logger Pro printing options window.

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Part C. Comparison of the two measured charges vs. .

Students t-Test

To compare two measurements of the same quantity, we will use the so called Students t-Test. This
test calculates the probability that the two measurements are in agreement with each other.

Suppose that 1 and 2 are two measurements, with respective errors 1 and 2 . The t-Test is
performed by calculating the following value:
|1 2 |
=
(1.12)
21 + 22

The calculated t value follows a Gaussian or normal distribution. Thus, we can say that:
If 2, there is a 95% probability that 1 and 2 represent the same quantity.
Therefore, they are consistent with each other.

If > 2, 1 and 2 are inconsistent with each other.

This way, if the quantities are consistent with each other we can state that the numbers agree with
each other to within 2 sigma, where sigma refers to the combined error in the denominator of the t-
Test calculation.

1. Perform a statistical comparison of the two charge values that you found in this experiment using the
Students t-Test. Note that both charges should have the same sign.

In this case,
| |
=
2 + 2

where and are the measured charges on the plastic rod using the electroscope
(part A) and electronic charge sensor (part B), respectively.

2. Complete your in-class write up, staple your graph and submit it to your TA before the end of the lab
session. Leave all the equipment organized in your station in the same way as you found it.