Scribd
Upload
377 views

Electrostatics

Electrostatics is the study of stationary electric charges. Materials can become charged through processes like friction or induction. Unlike charges attract while like charges repel based on the fundamental forces of electricity. Static electricity builds up in many everyday situations and can cause nuisances or dangers if not dissipated properly. Lightning is a large-scale example of static electricity discharge between clouds and the earth. Protective measures like lightning rods safely direct lightning strikes to ground.

Uploaded by

melissa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
377 views

Electrostatics

Electrostatics is the study of stationary electric charges. Materials can become charged through processes like friction or induction. Unlike charges attract while like charges repel based on the fundamental forces of electricity. Static electricity builds up in many everyday situations and can cause nuisances or dangers if not dissipated properly. Lightning is a large-scale example of static electricity discharge between clouds and the earth. Protective measures like lightning rods safely direct lightning strikes to ground.

Uploaded by

melissa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

ELECTROSTATICS

In each atom of a material, the number of protons and electrons are equal. The positive and negative
charges cancel each other to a large extent and there is no net electrical charge. Electrons can be removed
from atoms or added to atoms and the material is left with a net charge.

Electrostatics, as the name implies, is the study of stationary electric charges.

Conductors and Insulators


A conductor is a material through which electric charges can easily flow.
Examples:

An insulator is a material through which electric charges do not move easily, if at all.
Examples:

Charging by Friction
• Polythene (or plastic or hard rubber) is rubbed with a cloth.
• Electrons are transferred from the cloth to the polythene.
• The cloth acquires net positive charge, since it has fewer electrons
than protons.
• The polythene acquires a net negative charge since they have
excess electrons.

The opposite effect happens when glass or cellulose acetate is rubbed with
a dry cloth. The glass loses electrons and becomes positively charged.

Unlike charges attract. Like charges repel.


This can be verified by a simple activity.
A charged glass rod is suspended by a thread, such that it swings horizontally. Now F
another charged glass rod is brought near the end of the suspended glass rod. It is
found that the ends of the two rods repel each other.
F
However, if a charged polythene rod is brought near the end of the suspended rod,
the two rods attract each other.

Charging by Conduction (contact)

• A negatively charged rod is brought near to a


neutral object.
• Upon contact, electrons move to the object and
spread about uniformly.
• The object now has a negative charge.
Charging by Induction
• A negatively charged rod is brought near to a neutral metal sphere. It induces positive charges on the
side nearest to the rod and negative charges on the sphere’s far side, as electrons are repelled away
from the rod.
• The metal sphere is earthed (by touching or using an earthing wire). Sufficient electrons flow down to
the ground
• When the finger/earthing wire is removed, only induced positive charges remained on the sphere.
• Finally, when the rod is removed, the remaining positive charges will be spread out evenly over the
metal sphere.

Questions
1) (a) A student rubs one side of an inflated balloon on her hair. This side of the balloon becomes positively
charged. Explain this. [2]

(b) The charged side of the balloon is now brought close to a stream of water flowing from a pipe. The
original position of the stream of water is shown.
Write in the boxes to indicate how each side of the
stream of water is electrically charged. [2]

(c) Draw the new position of the stream of water.


Explain this new position. [2]

(d) Explain why rubbing one side of a metal sphere


does not cause it to become charged. [1]
2) In an experiment, a girl uses two table-tennis balls A and B. Each is coated
with a thin layer of conducting material. Ball A is mounted on an
insulating stand and ball B is suspended from a thin nylon thread. The
arrangement is shown in the figure. Ball A is given a negative charge, and
is slowly moved towards ball B until it touches. Explain and predict what
happens
a) before contact
b) after contact
USES OF STATIC ELECTRICITY

Electrostatic precipitators
Many power stations burn fossil fuels
such as coal and oil, producing smoke.
Smoke can damage buildings and cause
breathing difficulties.
The electrostatic precipitator is the device
used in chimneys to remove smoke from
waste gases.

Spraying
Electrostatics can be useful for spraying liquids. For example:
• spraying paint
• spraying crops with pesticides and herbicides.

o The spray gun is given a charge.


o The droplets of paint also become charged, so they repel
each other and produce a fine spray.
o The car object is given an opposite charge to the spray gun
and paint droplets.
o The droplets are attracted to the object, producing an even
coat with little waste.

Photocopying
Machines
A photocopier uses
electrostatic charge to
produce a copy.
PROBLEMS WITH STATIC ELECTRICITY
NUISANCES
• Dust and dirt are attracted to insulators such as TV screens and computer monitors.
• Clothes made from synthetic materials cling to each other and to the body, especially just after
they've been in a tumble dryer.
Anti-static sprays, liquids and cloths prevent the build-up of charge by allowing it to conduct away.

DANGERS
Charge buildup on vehicles/aircraft
When flammable liquids like gasoline are transferred from tankers
to aircrafts, it rubs against the inside of the hose and builds up a
lot of charge. This large amount of charge can form sparks and
cause an explosion.

To prevent this from happening tankers/aircrafts use grounding or earthing devices. These are copper
wires on the hose and the aircraft that draw the electrical charge away from the gasoline and into the
ground/earth.

Lightning
In storm clouds, water droplets become charged due to friction when they rub against one another.
Negative charges collect at the bottom of cloud and induce positive charges to accumulate on the
ground. Eventually, the negative charges from the cloud are attracted towards the positive charges from
the ground. A flash of lightning is produced as electrons flow downwards.

Lightning strikes are hazardous to buildings, especially tall ones like tower blocks and chimney stacks.
The energy in a bolt of lightning can severely damage and burn buildings.

Thunder: Lightning bolts can heat up the air to very high temperatures. This causes the air around the
bolt to expand explosively, producing the sound we hear as thunder. As light travels a million times
faster than sound we see the lightning before we hear the thunder

Lightning conductor
Lightning conductors provide protection for building by providing the path of least
resistance for the lightning into the earth. It consists of a three or two metal spikes
attached to a vertical rod, which in turn is connected to the Earth by a thick copper
wire.

When a thunder cloud is around, it induces positive charges on the objects on the
ground. Most of the induced charges prefer to reach sharp edges to flat edges.
Therefore, the induced charges accumulate at the metal spikes.
As a result, a vast flow of electrons takes place between the cloud and the ground
through the lightning conductor, thanks to the high conductivity of the copper cable.
Electric Fields
All electrically charged objects have an electric field around them.

An electric field is a region in which a charged object experiences an electric force.

The diagrams above are examples of electric fields.


The lines in the diagrams are lines of force. These show how charged particles will move in the electric field.
The direction of the arrow shows the direction a positively charged particle will move.
Negatively charged particles, for example electrons, will move in the opposite direction to the arrow.

June 2007 P2 Q5
(a) A negatively charged polythene strip is used to attract a small piece
of insulating paper as shown below.

(i) Show, on the diagram, the charge distribution on the paper. (2)
(ii) Explain why there is a net force of attraction. (2)

(iii) Draw, on the figure, the charge distribution on the paper when it is
in contact with the polythene strip. (1)

(iv) State whether the paper gains or loses charge and the type of charge
transferred, when it touches the strip. (2)

(b) When lightning strikes the earth, there is a massive flow of electrons from a thundercloud to the earth
during a short time interval.

(i) Draw, on the figure, electric field lines between the cloud and the
earth. (2)

(ii) Describe a precaution which may be taken to protect a building


against lightning. (2)

(c)During a certain lightning strike, a current of 5 x 104 A flows for a


time period of 0.15 ms. Calculate the quantity of charge that flows from cloud to earth during the strike. (3)

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy