Instruction Manual

and Experiment Guide

ELECTROSTATICS SYSTEM

4865.10

N.B.:

• Pictures, images and descriptions in this manual may not exactly correspond with
the actual items supplied.
• It is also important to note that the experiments in this manual are, only, suggestions.
They are not meant to indicate the limitation of the equipment, which can be used in
wide range of experiments, depending on the educational requirement of the teacher.
2
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

This kit introduces basic concepts of electrostatics and provides a framework for understanding and
quantitatively assessing electrostatic questions and problems.

LIST OF EXPERIMENTS:

• Electroscope usage
• Faraday ice pail
• Different kinds of electric charge
• Charge by friction
• Electrostatics experiments

3
 Index of related topics:
C
Charging by conduction...........................................................................................................................7
Charging by friction (triboelectricity) .........................................................................................................7
Charging by induction .............................................................................................................................7
Conducting sphere ................................................................................................................................15

E
Electric charge........................................................................................................................................7
electroscope .........................................................................................................................................13

F
Faraday ice pail ....................................................................................................................................11

V
Volta’s electrophorus ............................................................................................................................10

4
 Experiment 1.
RELATED TOPICS:

• Electric charge
• Charging by conduction
• Charging by induction
• Charging by friction (triboelectricity)

The purpose of the experiment is to introduce the basic concepts of electrostatics as electric charge,
triboelectricity, electric field.

ITEMS NEEDED:

• Electroscope
• Wool rubber
• Glass, Ebonite and Perspex rod
• Polyethylene strip

THEORY:

Electrostatics is associated with materials on which electrical charge moves only slowly (insulating materials)
and with electrically isolated conductors. 'Insulation' and 'isolation' prevents easy migration of charge. So
charges stay in place (are 'static'). It is the effects that the charges produce that are then important.
The parameter of basic importance in electrostatics is ‘charge’. It is charge which gives rise to the electric
fields generating forces that attract thin films and particles to surfaces and charge which gives rise to high
voltages in low capacitance systems. High voltages can cause sparks. If these have sufficient energy they
may ignite flammable gases, cause shocks to personnel, damage semiconductor devices and upset the
operation of microelectronic equipment.
Static electricity arises as the separation of positive and negative charges at the interface between two
dissimilar surfaces. If one or other of the surfaces prevent easy migration of charge, or the conductor on
which they reside is isolated, then this charge is 'static' on the surface and remains available to influence the
surroundings. 'Static' electricity can also arise on surfaces as trapped ions from the air.
Static charges may be electrons, or positive, or negative ions - but they are in the basic units of electronic
charge 1.6 x 10-19 coulomb. On a surface there are some 1019 atomic sites per m2 - so if the charge of even
quite a small fraction of the surface atoms is changed then quite large quantities of charge are easily
involved.

There are three modes of electrifying an object: friction, conduction and induction.

5
A positive charge means that the object has lost electrons and is no longer electrically neutral. Each
electron lost gives the particle a charge of +1.6 x 10-19 coulombs. Positive, or vitreous, charges are
classically created by rubbing a glass rod with silk. The rod becomes positive (loses electrons); the silk
become negative (gains electrons). Since electric charge is conserved, the system (glass rod and silk)
maintains a net charge of 0.
A negative charge means that the object has gained electrons. Each electron gains gives the particle a
charge of -1.6 x 10-19 coulombs. Negative, or resinous, charges are classically created by rubbing a rubber
rod with fur. The rod becomes negatively charged; the fur positively charged. By definition, negatively
charged objects have more mass than an identical neutral object since each extra electron has a mass of
9.11 x 10-31 kg.

Electrification by friction occurs when two surfaces are rubbed together. Examples of this were discussed
above when a positive charge was created by rubbing glass with silk and a negative charge was created by
rubbing rubber with fur. The following list details a larger portion of the triboelectric sequence. When any
two substances shown in this list are rubbed together, the top one will become positively charged while the
lower one will become negatively charged. The further apart the two substances are in the list, the greater
the electrification.

substance
Asbestos
Fur (rabbit)
Glass
Mica
Wool
Quartz
Fur (cat)
Lead
Silk
Human skin,
Aluminium
Cotton
Wood
Amber
Copper, Brass
Rubber
Sulfur
Celluloid
India rubber

Charge separation depends on surface conditions. It is strongly affected by contamination and by the speed
and pressure of rubbing actions. Only in a few instances, for example in photocopiers and in some paint
spray situation, are triboelectric effects used to control charging in a defined way.

PROCEDURE:

The following experiments are possible with the help of an ebonite rod, glass rod and the wool rubber.

Charging by conduction means that the charging rod actually touches the electroscope’s knob. Since there
is contact, electrons from the knob would flow onto a positive rod or off of a negative rod. Charging by
conduction leaves the electroscope with a residual charge IDENTICAL to that of the charging rod.

6
Charging by induction means that the charging rod is brought close to the electroscope’s knob but NEVER
touches it. If the electroscope is not grounded, it will remain neutral but be temporarily polarized while the
charging rod is in the immediate vicinity. That is, a positive rod will induce the electrons in the scope to
migrate to the knob. This redistribution of charge will result in the leaves of the scope being positively
charged.

If the electroscope is grounded during induction, electrons will flow from the knob to the ground if the
charging rod is NEGATIVE and electrons will flow onto the knob if the charging rod is POSITIVE. The net
effect once the grounding wire is removed is that the electroscope will be left with a residual charge that is
OPPOSITE to that of the charging rod.
Suppose the positive rod is brought near to an insulator, for example, a piece of paper or a polyethylene
strip. Since electrons are not free to move within an insulator, another process takes place which still results
in the paper or wall becoming polarized. The particles in the insulator realign themselves - presenting an
oppositely charged layer towards the charged rod. This process is illustrated below.

7
 Experiment 2.
RELATED TOPICS:

• Volta’s electrophorus

The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the Volta’s electrophorus.

ITEMS NEEDED:

• Electroscope
• Polyethylene tile
• Wool rubber
• Electrophorus disk with handle

THEORY:

The Electrophorus consists of a flat metal disc A, fitted with an insulating handle H, a flat disc B of an
insulating material (Polyethylene tile) resting on an earthed sole S.
The plate B is rubbed with the wool and acquires a charge. A is now placed on B and since neither A or B
are perfectly flat, contact is limited to a very few points. The surfaces are separated therefore by a thin layer
of air. A has charges induced on it.
If A is now earthed by touching while it is still resting on B, electrons will flow from it to earth leaving a net
positive charge on A which can be used as a source of charge.
The above procedure can be repeated many times since no charge has been removed from B

8
 Experiment 3.
RELATED TOPICS:

• Faraday ice pail

The principles of Faraday’s ice pail are investigated in this experiment

ITEMS NEEDED:

• Electroscope
• Faraday ice pail
• Proof plane with handle

THEORY:

In Faraday’s own words:

"Let A in the diagram represent an insulated pewter ice-pail, ...connected by a wire to a delicate gold-leaf
electrometer E, and let C be a round brass ball insulated by a dry thread of white silk, three or four feet in
length, so as to remove the influence of the hand holding it from the ice-pail below. Let A be perfectly
discharged, and then let C be charged at a distance by a machine or Leyden jar, and introduced into A.. If C
be positive, E will also diverge positively; if C be taken away, E will collapse perfectly... As C enters the
vessel A the divergence of E will increase until C is ... below the edge of the vessel, and will remain quite
steady and unchanged for any greater depression.
This shows that that distance the inductive action of C is entirely exerted upon the interior of A, ... If C is
made to touch the bottom of A, all of its charge is communicated to A, ... and C, upon being withdrawn, ... is
found to be perfectly discharged." (From a letter written by Michael Faraday to Richard Phillips, the editor of
Phil. Mag. on February 4, 1843. The diagram is from L. Pearce Williams, Michael Faraday, A Biography
(Simon and Schuster, New York, 1971), pg 374)

9
PROCEDURE:

By using the proof plane with handle, Volta’s electrophorus (see preceding experiment), the electroscope
and the polyethylene tile try to verify the Faraday’s words.

10
 Experiment 4.
RELATED TOPICS:

• Electroscope

The principles of the electroscope are investigated.

ITEMS NEEDED:

• Electroscope

THEORY:

The leaf electroscope is a traditional instrument for measuring the electrification state of bodies and for
revealing the presence of excess, even small, of charge of one sign.
A metallic rod that on its lower end has two extremely light metallic leaves and that is mounted on an
insulating support, usually a glass flask, essentially makes up the instrument.
If the two leaves are somehow electrified, the repulsive force between them is enough to cause the
divergence

APPARATUS SETTING:

It is highly recommended not to take off from the electroscope the metallic rod, not to shake it nor to move it
briskly and, above all, not to touch the metallic leaves, that are very delicate. Before beginning the actual
experiments, make sure with some trials that the electroscope, once charged, do not lose its charge too
quickly for the excessive humidity of the room.
During the experiment it is advisable to keep far from the instrument any charge generators or electrified
bodies not connected with the experiment.
Finally avoid that the leaves touch the glass for an excess of charge.

PROCEDURE:

With the woollen cloth electrify one of the rods, let us say the ebonite rod, that remains negatively charged.
Electrify the electroscope by contact, that is by rubbing the charged rod on the disk.
It is possible to observe that the leaves of the electroscope rise moving apart one from the other: the
negative charge passed on the metallic rod and then on them causes a repulsive action that moves them
apart overcoming their weight.

11
This procedure is the “charging by contact” of the electroscope: at the beginning there is a body charged, for
instance, negatively and the electroscope without charge; at the end the body is partially discharged since it
has lost part of its charge to the electroscope that results thus charged, also with a negative charge.
Now charge again the ebonite rod and touch again with it the electroscope; the divergence between the
leaves increases and it continues to increase if the operation is repeated two or three times.
At this point if the still charged electroscope is touched with a weakly electrified glass rod, the divergence
decreases and if this operation is repeated a sufficient number of times, the divergence continues to
decrease until it becomes null, for then increasing again.
In the first case negative charges are added to those already on the leaves, thus making stronger the
repulsive effect.
In the second case, instead, positive charges lost by the glass rod are added and they neutralize, first in part
and then totally, the charges that are present until the repulsive force is reduced to zero; subsequently a
further increase of positive charges electrifies again the electroscope but this time with charges of a different
sign respect with the initial ones.

12
 Experiment 5.
RELATED TOPICS:

• Conducting sphere

The apparatus is devoted to experiments with electrostatic induction.

ITEMS NEEDED:

• Conducting sphere

THEORY:

If a charged body is brought near a neutral conductor, this last is electrized and it remains so as long as the
charged body remains near it, to return to be neutral when the electrized body is removed.
The phenomenon can be explained remembering that on the conductors the charge carriers (electrons) are
free to move. Supposing that the charge brought near the sphere (inducing charge) is positive, the electrons
of the conductor sphere are attracted and, since they are free to move, the initial uniform distribution, that
was making the body neutral, is altered.
After all a new equilibrium situation is created for which in the zone that is nearest to the inducing positive
charge there is a prevalence of negative charges, while there is a prevalence of positive charges in the
further zone. If now the sphere is connected to ground, the positive charges

13
 APPENDIX
Basics of experimental error theory

We can say that everything we known about the physical world has an inherent uncertainty. In
particular, when we experimentally investigate something there is always an “experimental error”
and an “experimental precision”. Since one of the main features of experiments is their
reproducibility, it is very important to deal with this subject in order to be able to explain how good
our results are. This is possible with “experimental error theory”, a scientific approach to this
problem.

Let us consider the following example: find the density of a solid rubber cube.

o First trial (with very raw instrument). We can estimate that the mass of the cube is
nearly 50 g and the length of a side is nearly 6 cm. So the density would be:
M M
ρ= = 3 = 0,23148... . There are many questions: “Where can I stop with
V L
decimal digits to communicate my result?” “Is it better to have precision on the
mass measurement or on length measurement?” “How do we combine our
experimental error on the mass measurement with the experimental error on length
measurement?”
o Second trial (with more accurate instruments). By using an electronic balance and
a meter stick I find a mass of 60g and a side length of 5,4 cm. So the density would
be:
M M
ρ= = 3 = 0,381039475... . We still need to answer the questions posed above
V L
but we also have to answer a new question: “What makes this trial better than the
first one?”
o Third trial (with much more accurate instruments to measure the side length). If
we improve the accuracy of the length measurement, for example by using a vernier
caliper, the problem becomes more involved. This is due to the fact that we do not
get the same result if we make more than one measurement. Instead we have a set of
different measurements like (5,455 cm; 5,425 cm; 5,465 cm; …). So we are again
faced with the question: “Which one of the measurements (5,455 cm; 5,425 cm;
5,465 cm; …) do should I take?”

Therefore, the more we analyse the problem the more it gets involved. To search for a possible
solution we can start from the third trial and observe that, generally speaking, when we improve the
accuracy of an instrument we reach a point at which the experimental results are not unique but are
scattered around some value as illustrated in this graph:

14
If the number of measurements N is greater then about 30, the distribution of the experimental data
is bell-shaped and has a value X for which there is a maximum and around which the data are
scattered in a nearly symmetrical way. It is also possible to distinguish a value that determines an
interval around X into which a significant percentage of the measurements are placed. We need to
answer the questions: “Is X the best estimate of our measurement?”, “How much can we rely on
this value?” and “What percentage of the measurements are in the interval X-σ and X+σ ?”

To express these questions mathematically, we could try a prototype function that fits our data and
that expresses the probability to get a particular measurement value:
1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

-3 -2 -1 1 2 3
this is the graphical representation of the function
f ( x) = e − x
2

If we want to centre the function around the value X we use the expression x-X in place of x, and if
we want to control the scattering of the measurements around X it’s possible to divide (x-X)2 by
2σ2.
The following figure shows f(x) with X=2 and σ=1;1.5;2
1 1 1

0.8 0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2 0.2

-2 2 4 6 8 10 -2 2 4 6 8 10 -2 2 4 6 8 10

15
Finally, if we want to control the area under the curve we have to multiply it by a normalization
factor Aσ that would depend on σ .
Therefore our prototype function is:
−
( x − X )2
f ( x ) = Aσ ⋅ e 2⋅σ 2
(1)
where X is the value for which we have the maximum and σ determines how the measurements are
scattered around X. This is called a “Gaussian function” or a “Normal function”, but the underlying
data represent a distribution (still called Gaussian) and not a function. It can be proved that the
Gaussian distribution is derivable from the binomial distribution assuming that the number of
measurements N Æ ∞ and σ remains constant.

The physical meaning of all this is that we do not describe a measurement with a single number but
rather with a set of values each one with its own probability to appear as an experimental datum.
This probability is governed by the “Gaussian distribution”. There is an analogy with quantum
mechanics (for example with the wave packet of a particle) where the interpretation is that if we
make a measure of the position of the particle then the probability to obtain a particular value is
governed by the Gaussian function and is never a well defined fixed value.

Let us determine the value of Aσ in (1). We must have a probability of 1 to get a measurement in
the range from -∞ to +∞ (that is, if we perform a measurement we are certain to get some kind of
result no matter how large or how small that result is):
+∞ 1
∫−∞ f ( x)dx = 1 ⇒ Aσ = 2π ⋅ σ
To give an interpretation of σ we can ask what happens if we are only interested in the probability
of finding measurements in the range from X-σ to X+σ instead of the range from -∞ to +∞:
2
t
X +σ 1 +1 −
∫ X −σ
f ( x) dx = ⋅ ∫ e 2 dt
2π −1
0.68

so σ, also called then “standard deviation” (σ2 is called “variance”), is the amount of uncertainty we
have to allow for, in the most probable value X, if we want to claim a roughly 68% chance of
correctly predicting the result of any single measurement.

To determine X, also called the “mean value”, we consider a set of N measurements x1, x2, …, xN.
The probability to get a single result between xi and xi+dx is:

( x − xi )2
1 −
Pi = ⋅e 2⋅σ 2

σ 2π
so the probability to get all the results (viewed as independent events) is:
N

∑ ( x − xi )
2

1 − i=1
P = P1 × P2 × ... × PN α ⋅e 2⋅σ 2
σN
Since we are speaking about the probability P to get all the results and we can suppose to have
already done our experiment with a set of real results what should be the value of P?

16
If we accept the maximum likelihood principle we can make an analogy with entropy and say that P
is proportional to the entropy obtained from our experiment. The value X must be a point of
maximum entropy. By the second principle of thermodynamics we have to maximize P, otherwise
d ⎡N 2⎤
said X is the value of x that minimize the exponent: ⎢ ∑
dx ⎣ i =1
( x − xi ) ⎥ = 0 from which it results:
⎦
1 N
X= ∑ xi
N i =1
(2)

that is, the mean value X is the arithmetic mean and describes all the collected data since it is the
value for which the maximum entropy is obtained for our set of data.

⎡ ∑ ( x − xi ) ⎤
N
2

d ⎢ 1 − 2⋅σ 2 ⎥
i =1

To determine σ we can proceed in the same way ⎢ ⋅e ⎥ = 0 from which:

dσ ⎢ σ N ⎥
⎢⎣ ⎥⎦
1 N
σ= ∑ ( x − xi )
2
(3)
N i =1
But what should be use instead of x in equation (3)? If we use (2) then equation (3) is slightly self-
2
1 N ⎛1 ⎞
referential because σ = ∑ ⎜ ( x1 + ... + xi + ... + xN ) − xi ⎟ and the i-esim term appears two
N i =1 ⎝ N ⎠
times. It is possible to show that the correct value of the standard deviation is:

1 N
σ= ∑ ( X − xi )
2
(4)
N − 1 i =1
Clearly σ is not defined for N=1 (we are assuming N greater of nearly 30, otherwise there are better
distributions to consider).

Suppose now we have a function Q of several variables Q = f ( a, b, c,...) and we want to know how
the experimental error on each variable contributes to Q.
We can say that by varying the variables, the quantity Q varies of:
∂Q ∂Q ∂Q
∆Q = ∆a + ∆b + ∆c + ...
∂a ∂b ∂c
and if we identify our uncertainty ∆x with the standard deviation σx we can say that:
∂Q ∂Q ∂Q
σQ = σa + σb + σ c + ... (5)
∂a ∂b ∂c
the modulus is due to the fact that errors could cancel each other and we want to consider the
maximum error.
We could do better, obtaining a smaller value, if the variables are normal and independent, by
1 N
starting from (4) σ Q = ∑ ( − Qi ) where Qi = f (ai , bi , ci ,...) is the i-esim value of Q by
2

N − 1 i =1
taking the i-esim value of each variable of our set of data, = f ( A, B, C ,...) is the mean value of Q
by taking the mean value of each variable of our set of data.

17
 2 2 2
⎛ ∂Q ∂Q ⎞ ⎛ ∂Q ⎞ ⎛ ∂Q ⎞
( − Qi ) = ( ∆Qi ) = ⎜ ∆ai + ∆bi + ... ⎟ ⎟ ( ∆ai ) + ⎜ ⎟ ( ∆bi ) + ...
2 2 2 2
Since ⎜ (by
⎝ ∂ai ∂bi ⎠ ⎝ ∂ai ⎠ ⎝ ∂bi ⎠
neglecting terms of higher order) we have:

⎛ ∂Q ⎞ ⎛ ∂Q ⎞
2 N 2 N
1 1
σQ = ⎜ ∑=1 ( ∆ai ) + ⎜⎝ ∂b ⎟⎠ N − 1 ∑ ( ∆bi ) + ...
2 2
⎟
⎝ ∂a ⎠ 14
N − 14i244 3 i =1
1442443
σ a2 σ b2

or
⎛ ∂Q ⎞ 2 ⎛ ∂Q ⎞ 2
2 2

σQ = ⎜ ⎟ σa + ⎜ ⎟ σ b + ... (6)
⎝ ∂a ⎠ ⎝ ∂b ⎠
which is better of (5) since it’s always lower.
N
1
Suppose now that the function Q is just the arithmetic mean X =
N
∑x
i =1
i . By applying equation (6)

we get
2 2
⎛ ∂X ⎞ 2 ⎛ ∂X ⎞ 2
σX = ⎜ ⎟ σ x1 + ⎜ ⎟ σ x2 + ... (7)
⎝ ∂x1 ⎠ ⎝ ∂x2 ⎠
∂X ∂ ⎛1 N
⎞ 1
but =
∂xi ∂xi ⎜⎝ N
∑ x ⎟⎠ = N and σ
i =1
i x1 = σ x2 = ... = σ and so

σ
σX = (8)
N
which is called “standard deviation of the mean”. Analogously to the “standard deviation”, it tells
us how good is the mean value X and we can assume it as the amount of uncertainty we have to
allow for if we want to claim a roughly 68% chance of correctly predicting the result of any other
mean value it is possible to obtain.
σQ
It is also useful to speak about relative error instead of absolute error σ Q . The relative error can
Q
be expressed in percentage.

For example let us return to the problem of determine the density of a cube.
M
Now, the function Q is the density which is function of the mass M and the side length L: ρ = .
L3
60 g g
If M = 60 g and L = 54mm it’s easy to find that the mean value is ρ = 3 3
= 3,81 ⋅10−4 3
54 cm cm
By applying equation (5) we have that the relative error is:
σ ρ 1 ∂ρ 1 ∂ρ L3 1 L3 −3M 1 3
= σM + σL = σM + σL = σM + σL .
ρ ρ ∂M ρ ∂L M L 3
M L 4
M L
If we can suppose the precision of the mass measurement is σ M = 2 g and the precision of the
length measurement is σ L = 1mm we have:
σ ρ 2 3 ⋅1
= + 3,3% + 5, 6% = 8,9%
ρ 60 54
(this says it is more important to make a careful length measurement than a careful mass
measurement).
By applying equation (6) we get a better (lower) estimate of the density error:

18
 σρ σ M 2 9 ⋅σ L2 22 9 ⋅12
= + = + = 6,5% .
ρ M2 L2 602 542
This means that if we take another measurement of density there’s a probability of nearly 68% that
g
the new value will lie between (3,8 ± 0, 2) ⋅10−4 .
cm3
It is important to note that since the standard deviation on density is 0,2 x 10-4 g/cm3 we can stop at
the first decimal digit 3,8 x 10-4.

19