LD

Electricity
Physics
Electrostatics
Leaflets P3.1.3.4
Field lines and equipotential lines

Measuring the potential

around a charged sphere

Objects of the experiments

g To measure the potential at equal distances from the sphere: equipotential surfaces
g To measure the potential as a function of the distance from the surface of the sphere and determination of the electrical field
strength

Principles
In the two dimensional section through an electric field the
points of equal potential form a line. The course of such equi-
potential lines is, just like the course of the field lines, deter-
mined by the spatial arrangement of the field-generating
charges. The equipotential lines are always perpendicular to
the electric field lines.
In the experiment the potential around a charged sphere is
investigated. The equipotential lines lie, if viewed three-
dimensionally, on spherical surfaces, if viewed two-
dimensionally in circles around the sphere (see fig. 1). The
following applies:
Q
U= (I)
4πε 0 ⋅ r
The capacitance of a charged sphere with a radius a is given
by the ratio of voltage U and charge Q at the surface of a
sphere:
Q
C= = 4πε 0 ⋅ a (II)
U
The size of the electric field E is given by the change of the
potential U in space. The electric field strength E therefore
depends on the distance d from the sphere surface or on the
Fig. 2: Experimental setup
distance r from the centre of the sphere.
The electric field lines run radially-symmetrically from the
sphere (see fig. 1). The following applies:
Q
E= (III)
4πε 0 ⋅ r 2
For measuring the potential around the sphere a flame probe
is used. In the metal tube of the flame probe a flammable gas
flows to the tip and burns there with a small flame. Because
of the flame at the tip, an ionisation current will flow until the
ambient potential is reached. The resulting voltage is trans-
mitted via the connection cable to the voltage measuring
+Q panel on the electric field meter S and there it is measured.
In this experiment the potential around the sphere is initially
determined by moving the flame probe step by step at the
desired distance d around the sphere and at each step the
voltage U is measured.
Then the flame probe is moved stepwise radially away from
the surface of the sphere and again the voltage U is meas-
CS-0307

ured for each step. The voltage values are plotted as a func-
tion of their distance from the centre of the sphere r. In addi-
tion the function U ~ 1/r is checked by plotting the voltage
Fig. 1: Electric field and equipotential lines around a charged sphere values against 1/r and fitting a straight line to the values. The

LD Didactic GmbH . Leyboldstraße 1 . D-50354 Hürth . Telephone: (02233) 604-0 . Fax: (02233) 604-222 . e-mail: info@ld-didactic.de

© LD Didactic GmbH Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany

Technical alterations reserved
P3.1.3.4 -2- LD Physics Leaflets

gradient of this straight line is used for determining the charge

Q. By means of equation (II) U and Q are used for calculating Apparatus
the capacitance C of the charged sphere and it is compared 1 sphere with connection cable.............................. 543 08
to the theoretical value C = 4πε 0 ⋅ a . 1 electric field meter S............................................ 524 080
For determining the electric field E, the change of the poten- 1 set of accessories for the electric field meter S ... 540 540
tial as a function of the change of the distance is determined 1 universal measuring instrument P ....................... 531 835
2 1 high voltage power supply 10 kV ........................ 521 70
and plotted The relationship U ~ 1/r is checked by plotting
2
the values against 1/r and fitting a straight line to the values. 3 saddle bases ....................................................... 300 11
1 wooden ruler, L = 1m / 39 inch............................ 311 03
Setup or
The experimental setup is shown in fig. 2. For setting up the 2 clamp riders with clamp 45/35............................. 460 312
following steps are required: 1 optical bench, S1 profile, 50 cm .......................... 460 317
- Fit the sphere with the connection cable into a base. 1 saddle base......................................................... 300 11
- The electric field meter and the flame probe are also fitted 1 safety connection lead, 10 cm, yellow/green....... 500 600
into a base. 1 safety connection lead, 100 cm, red.................... 500 641
- Earth the left-hand positive pole of the 10 kV high 1 safety connection lead, 100 cm, blue .................. 500 642
voltage power supply and connect it to the earthing 1 cartridge .............................................................. 666 715
socket on the back of the electric field meter. 1 valve for gas cartridge......................................... 666 716
- Connect the left-hand negative pole of the 10 kV high 1 PVC tubing, 7 x 1.5 mm, 1 m 667 193
voltage meter to the sphere with the connection cable.
- Connect the electric field meter to the universal measuring Note:
instrument P and select “Voltage” as the measuring unit. For carrying out this experiment, as an alternative to the uni-
- Place the voltage measuring plate onto the electric field versal measuring instrument P the following can be used:
meter and connect the flame probe to the voltage measur- 1 mobile CASSY (524 009)
ing plate. or
- Connect the cartridge to the flame probe, check the firm- 1 Sensor-CASSY (524 010USB) + CASSY Lab (524 200) ) /
ness of the tube connections. CASSY-Display (524 020)
- Hold a burning lighter or match to the tip of the flame probe or
and slowly open the gas supply until a small flame, approx. 1 Pocket CASSY (524 009) + CASSY Lab (524 200)
10 mm high burns at the tip.
- During the measurement hold the flame probe only by its Carrying out the experiment
insulating stand rod, because any contact with metal parts
will prevent the potential equalisation. a) Measurements at a constant distance from the sphere
Note: - When the high voltage is switched off, adjust the desired
distance d between the flame probe and the sphere. Hold
- Do not put the flame probe into excessively strong fields;
the flame probe perpendicular to the connection line be-
as this will cause the flame to become sooty.
tween the flame and the sphere so that the field around the
- Placing the flame into a setup reduces the dielectric sphere is disturbed as little as possible by the flame probe.
strength of the air and may therefore lead to electric flash-
- Increase the high voltage at the sphere to 3.0 kV.
overs.
- Set up metal objects (e.g. high voltage power supply, - Note down the measured voltage U and the position.
universal measuring instrument P) as far away from - Change the position of the flame probe relative to the
the sphere as possible in order to disturb the potential sphere by constant intervals d and repeat the measure-
and electric field around the charged sphere as little ment several times.
as possible.
b) Measurement as a function of the distance from the
sphere surface and determination of the electric field
Warning:
strength
It is absolutely necessary to provide correct earthing of the
electric field meter S. Because typically the measurement is - Set the saddle base with the flame probe on the wooden
made using a high voltage, the electric field meter S must ruler in such a way that the flame probe can be moved ra-
never be operated without the 4 mm socket on the back being dially away from the sphere.
connected to ground. When it is connected correctly the cur- - Determine the distance of the flame probe from the
rent flows back to the power supply should the voltage flash sphere.
over and not to the meter. - Increase the high voltage at the sphere to 3.0 kV.
Should the earthing not be correct, peripheral equipment
- Move the flame probe on the wooden ruler step by step
(e.g. the meter or Sensor-CASSY) connected to the elec-
perpendicular to the capacitor plates and note for each
tric field meter S could become damaged!
step the measured voltage U and the position.

LD Didactic GmbH . Leyboldstraße 1 . D-50354 Hürth . Telephone: (02233) 604-0 . Fax: (02233) 604-222 . e-mail: info@ld-didactic.de

© LD Didactic GmbH Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany

Technical alterations reserved
LD Physics Leaflets -3- P3.1.3.4

Measuring example and evaluation From the charge Q on the sphere and the applied voltage U
the capacitance of the sphere can also be determined (equa-
a) Measurements at a constant distance from the sphere
tion II). With Q = −2,00 ⋅ 10 −8 C and U = −3,0 kV one obtains
In the example, the potential was measured at various posi-
C = 6,7 pF . For a sphere with a radius of a = 5 cm this theo-
tions around the charged sphere. The charge was connected
to approx. -3.0 kV and the distance to the sphere for each of retically gives C = 4πε 0 ⋅ a = 5.6 pF. The deviation from the
the measurements was 2.0 cm. For the potential, values measured result arises mainly from the assumption that the
between –2.44 kV and –2.47 kV were found. This means that potential only reaches zero at infinity. This is in the experi-
the measuring points are approximately on an equipotential ment only true in approximation, because e.g. measuring
surface, which in the case of a charge sphere has the shape instruments cannot be placed at an infinite distance from the
of a sphere. sphere and close to the experimental setup there are further
b) Measurement as a function of the distance to the surfaces such as the table top. These influence the potential
sphere surface and determination of the electric field and therefore lead to deviations in the measurements.
strength For determining the electric field strength E the change of the
In table 1 the results of an example of a measurement are potential as a function of the change of the distance is deter-
shown. The sphere was charged to –3.0 kV. The location x = ∆U
mined: E =
0 mm corresponded to the surface of the sphere. In order to ∆r
maintain the distance r of the flame probe from the centre of
the sphere, the sphere radius a = 5 cm is added to the dis- The values are plotted as a function of the mean distance rm,
tance x from the surface of the sphere. i.e. as the mean of the two distances from which the ∆r is
determined. The data are shown in table 2 and figure 5.
In figure 3 the voltage values are plotted as a function of their
distance from the centre of the sphere r. The value measured
continuously reduces with increasing distance from the
U 0
charged sphere, i.e. the potential decreases.
kV
For checking the dependency U ~ 1/r the values 1/r are also
determined and the voltage is plotted as a function of the
latter (figure 4). The fit of a straight line shows a good match
-1
with the measured data and confirms therefore the relation-
ship U ~ 1/r. From the gradient A = 180 Vm of the straight line
using equation (I) the charge on the sphere is also able to be
determined.
Q = 4πε 0 ⋅ A = −2,00 ⋅ 10 −8 C = −1,25 ⋅ 1011e -2
with the elementary charge e = 1,6022 ⋅ 10 −19 C .

r / cm 6 7 8 9 10 11
U / kV -2.76 -2.46 -2.15 -1.89 -1.69 -1.52 -3

r / cm 12 13 14 15 16 17 0 10 20 30 40 50
U / kV -1.38 -1.27 -1.17 -1.08 -1.00 -0.92 r / cm
Fig. 3: Voltage U as a function of the distance r from the centre of the
r / cm 18 19 20 22.5 25 27.5 sphere
U / kV -0.86 -0.80 -0.75 -0.65 -0.58 -0.51
r / cm 30 32.5 35 37.5 40 45 U 0
kV
U / kV -0.48 -0.39 -0.36 -0.33 -0.30 -0.28

Tab. 1: Measuring result of the potential U

-1
rm / cm 6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5 10.5 11.5
E / kV/m -30 -31 -26 -23 -17 -14
rm / cm 12.5 13.5 14.5 15.5 16.5 17.5
E / kV/m -11 -10 -9 -8 -8 -6 -2

rm / cm 18.5 19.5 21.25 23.75 26.25 28.75

E / kV/m -6 -5 -4 -2.8 -2.8 -1,2
rm / cm 31.25 33.75 36.25 38.75 42.5 -3

E / kV/m -3.6 -1.2 -1.2 -1.2 -0.4 0 10 20

1/r / 1/m
Tab. 2: Data relating to the electric field strength E
Fig. 4: Voltage U as plotted against 1/r (r: distance from the centre of
the sphere)

LD Didactic GmbH . Leyboldstraße 1 . D-50354 Hürth . Telephone: (02233) 604-0 . Fax: (02233) 604-222 . e-mail: info@ld-didactic.de

© LD Didactic GmbH Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany

Technical alterations reserved
P3.1.3.4 -4- LD Physics Leaflets

2 2
For checking the dependency U ~ 1/r the values 1/rm are E 0
also determined and the voltage is plotted as a function of the kV/m
latter (figure 6); the fit of a straight line shows a good match
with the measured data and confirms therefore the relation-
2 -10
ship U ~ 1/r .
Q
The gradient A = 184 Vm also corresponds to .
4πε 0
Within the limitations of the measuring precision the two val- -20
ues one obtains from the evaluation of the potential function
and the shape of the field lines agree. The relative error is
larger for the field values than for the potential values be-
cause for this values of a similar order of magnitude have to -30
be subtracted from each other. This effect is clearly apparent
in the strong scatter of the values for the electric field strength
E at large distances from the sphere centre.
0 10 20 30 40 50

rm / cm
Fig. 5: Electric field strength E as a function of the distance rm from
the centre of the sphere

E 0
kV/m

-10

-20

-30

-40

0 100 200 300

2
1/rm / 1/m
2
Fig. 6: Electric field strength E plotted against 1/rm

LD Didactic GmbH . Leyboldstraße 1 . D-50354 Hürth . Telephone: (02233) 604-0 . Fax: (02233) 604-222 . e-mail: info@ld-didactic.de

© LD Didactic GmbH Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany

Technical alterations reserved