STATIC ELECTRICITY

LOW-COST ELECTROSCOPES

PERFORMED BY:
JESSICA AGLUBA
JONATHAN CORTES
JULAINE DUMALANTA

PERFORMED FOR:
MRS. MINERVA GALABAY
Instructor
 ACTIVITY 1
Take a polyethylene plastic and place it flat on a clean table top, then take a piece of newspaper,
crumple it and rub it once or twice on the plastic sheet. Next lift it up briskly. Pass the plastic sheet near
your arm.
After performing the task, it seems like someone’s
tickled me because I slightly felt uncomfortable on a part of
my body.
Also, after placing the same charged plastic near my ears, I
feel the same feeling.

ACTIVITY 2
Charge the plastic sheet once more and place it against a flat vertical surface like the side of a cabinet.

After performing the task, we have observed that

the charged plastic is attracted by the flat surface of the
cabinet.
As we place it near my face, there’s already a repulsion
between the charged plastic and my face. Thus, I didn’t
feel any tickling anymore.
 ACTIVITY 3
This time you need to work with your classmate. Each of you should charge the plastic sheets in the
usual manner. Holding only the tip of the corner of the plastic, bring your plastics sheets together. See
to it that the plastic sheets would come towards each other face to face.

We performed the task many times thinking that two

reactions may occur and yes! Finally after several repulsion
reactions, attraction took place.

It is very natural for like charges to repel (for both of

the plastic sheets were charged) but then it attracted.
Why? Because one of the plastic sheets was poorly
charged while the other one was charged completely-
which tells us that they have unlike charges. Unlike
charges attracts!
ACTIVITY 4
Tear little bits of news paper and place them on the table. Charge your plastic sheet and place it over
the bits of newspaper at the height of about 4cm.

Few of the bits of newspaper were attracted to

the plastic sheet, some moved away (repelled) and most
of it stayed the same (no movement at all).
 ACTIVITY 5
Repeat Activity no. 4 using styrofoam balls.

The styrofoam balls behaved like the bits of paper.

The only difference is that the attracted pieces were more
than that of the paper bits. But as we touch the plastic
sheet, the styrofoam balls falls. Simply, because the charge
in the plastic sheet were transferred in our forefinger.

ACTIVITY 6
“GILBERT’S ELECTROSCOPE”
In order to construct an electroscope illustrated below, you will be needing clothes pin, toothpick,
Styrofoam cup, and a narrow strip if cardboard.
Take a plastic straw and wipe it dry and stroke with newspaper. After that, bring the straw near the free
moving cardboard of your “Gilbert’s electroscope”
In our first try, the cardboard was attracted by
the straw so we made it turn around by moving the
straw around it. After some time, it did the opposite:
the straw repelled the cardboard and so we made it
turn around again but this time we are pushing it (even
without contact)
Now, try charging the electroscope with a charged plastic sheet. Allow the cardboard touch the plastic
then slowly withdraw the plastic so that the strip of cardboard would not fall from its pivot.

Charging the electroscope with the charge

plastic sheet is not easy to do. A lot of trials but then, it
seems like there is no reaction at all. But after
sometime, the strip of paper repelled to the plastic
sheet.

This is because from our first trials, the

plastic sheet transferred the electrons into the
plastic paper which made the plastic strips
negatively charge and as we charge the plastic
sheet again, since like charges repel, then they
repel.
ACTIVITY 7
“BUILDING A POOF-PLANE”

Take a screw and insert it into a plastic tubing small enough to hold it snugly. You have just built a
“proof-plane” or an electric spoon which may be used to transfer charge from one body to another.
ACTIVITY 8
“BASIC USE OF THE PROOF-PLANE”
Hold the charged plastic sheet with the left hand and hold the proof-plane and touch its metallic part
the surface of the charged plastic. The put the proof; plane near the “Gilbert’s Electroscope”

Just like the plastic sheet, at first, there is no reaction.

With several contact of the proof-plane to the electroscope,
the electroscope gained enough charge to repel the proof-
plan..
 ACTIVITY 9
Get a piece of cardboard, cut it into 4cm x 8cm size. At the middle staple the strip of papel de hapon as
shown in the figure. Insert this into a base with a bent paper clip and plane the assembly on top of an
upside down plastic tumbler or cup. You’ve just created a low-cost electroscope!

ACTIVITY 10
CHARGING THE ELECTROSCOPE BY CONDUCTION
Charge the plastic sheet and touch it on the electroscope. Let the papel de hapon strip touch the plastic.
After some time, remove the plastic.

The strip of papel de hapon was attracted

with the charged plastic sheet but when the plastic
sheet was moved away the strip or the leaf did not
remain deflected. Thus, as the fundamental rule
states, unlike charges attracts each other and that
made us conclude that the electroscope is a
positively charge.

ACTIVITY 11
CHARGING THE ELECTROSCOPE BY INDUCTION
(1st method)
Take a charged plastic sheet and place it very near but not touching the cardboard of the electroscope.
You will notice that the leaf would be deflected immediately. Now, touch the electroscope ith a finger,
immediately the leaf would drop indicating the loss of charge. Remove your finger and move the plastic
away. The electroscope is now charge with induction. The polarity of the charge is opposite the polarity
of the charging material.

The leaf was repelled by the plastic sheet. Since

the positive charge of the leaf was attracted by the
plastic sheet through conduction (act.11), the negative
charge of the leaf aligned at its opposite side was then
repelled by the plastic sheet.
 ACTIVITY 12
CHARGING THE ELECTROSCOPE BY INDUCTION
(2nd method)

Repeat activity 11 but this time take the plastic sheet and touch the cardboard of the electroscope.
Touch the electroscope with a finger, move the finger away and remove the plastic. This is also charging
by induction.

ACTIVITY 13
TESTING FOR CONDUCTORS ORINSULATORS

Repeat activity 12 but this time test your materials if they are conductors or insulators. Touch your
material into your electroscope and if the leaf remains deflected, it is therefore an insulator but when
the material is a good conductor, the leaf would fall gradually.
X=INSULATOR
MATERIALS O=CONDUCTOR
XO=POOR INSULATOR
Scissors O
Pencil XO
Straw X
Comb X
Wood X
Styrofoam XO
 Activity 14
Charge two electroscopes by conduction using common charging materials such as the plastic sheet.
Place the two electroscopes face to face (their leaves are facing each other). Carefully move one
electroscope towards the other by holding on the plastic insulating cups. Be careful not to touch the
cardboard or the papel de japon strips.

The strips did not remain deflected and so, it is hard for us to identify whether the strips
attracted or repelled.

ACTIVITY 15
Repeat the procedure using the same
electroscope but this time charge both by
induction.

As we charge the two strips and move

towards each other, the strips repelled each other
because they have the same charge.
 ACTIVITY 16
Repeat activity no.15 this time, however, charge one electroscope by induction and the other by
conduction with the same charge plastic sheet.

The strips attracted each other because the one

charged by conduction became positively charge while the
other one charged by induction became negatively
charge. But after they attracted, the leaves fell off
immediately, indicating that the charges lost to the
ground.

ACTIVITY 17
Attach the wooden dowel to a metal base with a hole by means of a thumb tacks. On top of the place 2
or 4 strands of papel de japon strips by means of another thumb tack. You just build your first umbrella
electroscope.
ACTIVITY 18
Place a plastic flat on a clean table and rub it with a crumpled newspaper. Place the newly assembled
electroscope on it. Lift with the electroscope carefully so that the electroscope would not fall.

The papel de hapon was deflected. But when we touch the strip
it fell off immediately because the charge was transferred to us.
We ourselves are conductors.
 ACTIVITY 19
Place at regular intervals strips of papel de japon around an empty aluminum cup. Fix them on by means
of a rubber band and put the assembly on a Styrofoam or plastic cup.

As we placed the charged plastic sheet

on the aluminum cup, the strips were
attracted. We repeat this process but this time
we touch the cup and we removed our fingers
and the plastic sheet consecutively, the strips
remained deflected. However, as we touch the
deflected strips, it fell down because the
charges were transferred to our hands.
 MATERIALS

Toothpick Aluminum cup

Pair of scissors Illustration board

Pencil Rubber band

Ruler Screw

Styro cup Newspaper

Clothes pin Cell phone

Styro balls Straw

Bits of newspaper Wooden dowel

Card board Thumbtacks

Papel de japon Metal base

Celluloid