Veronica Soden

PHY2049L Lab 1
Charges and Fields

This lab has two different parts to it, a hands-on experiment and a simulation-based component.
Both parts of this lab focus on the basics of electric charges and how they react and relate to
each other. The hands-on experiment component of this lab involves using tape and paper to
create both positive and negative charges in order to visualize the repealing and attracting
forces that occur between charges. This allowed me to conclude that there only exist two
charges, positive and negative, and that like forces repel while opposite forces attract. The
second part of this lab involved using an online simulation which allowed you to place both
positive or negative charges in a vector field and measure the electric field created in order to
quantify the force (magnitude) of charges in relation to one another. In the simulation I placed
two negative charges at varying distances apart, two positive charges at varying distances
apart, and five random charges at varying distances. I then measured the electric field created in
each scenario and recorded everything in a data chart, which was used to calculate as well as
graph the force versus the average distance.

Introduction:
One of the main components of physics is to study objects and their behavior as well as the
related entities of energy and force. This lab focuses on electricity and the charges it creates that
affects all objects at the atomic level. In this lab I will learn how electric charges create forces
and react with one another, and hoe factors like distance can affect these forces. I will learn how
to visualize electric fields with the simulation component of the lab. I will learn how to calculate
the force of an electric field when taking into consideration the factors like distance between
charges as well as their respective forces. In the experimental part of the lab I will better learn
how different charges attract and repel one another. This lab will give me better insight into how
charges work in our world at different magnitudes of force and size, as well as how different
naturally occurring forces can be explained through the attracting and repelling capabilities of
electric charges.

General Principles:

A main component of physics is studying objects and their behavior as well as the related entities
of energy and force. Electricity and the respective electric charges are large components of this
part of physics. There are only two electric charges that exist, positive charge and negative
charges. Like charges repel one another while different charges attract one another. Electric
charges exist at the atomic level with protons (positive charges) and electrons (negative charges),
which differ in charge but are equal in magnitude. The SI unit for a charge is a coulomb (C), for
which a charge e ≡ 1.602× 10−19 C .

The magnitude of the force vector between charges can be defined by Coulomb's law, which uses
the point charges and distance between them. Electric fields are alterations in space caused by
the presence of a charge, positive or negative. These fields often look like vector fields, with
arrows pointing at negative charges and away from positive ones.

The equations we use to complete this lab are as follows -

Formulas:
Σx
Mean: x=
N
2
Σ|x −x|
Standard deviation: S D=
n
|a p p r o x−e x a c t|
Percent Error: P E= × 100
e x act
¿
Coulomb's Law: F=k ¿ q 1 q 2∨ 2 ¿
r

Results:
Part 1: Charges and Fields

Trial 1-3:

Q1 Q2
−1 η C −1 η C

# Q1 Q2 E-field E-field Distance Distance Distance Average F (magnitude) 1/R^2

(V/m) (degrees) r (m) r (m) r (m) r (m) (N)

1 -1 -1 2.14 46.4 0.1008 0.1004 0.0999 0.1004 8.9 ×1 0−7 99.2

2 -1 -1 1.40 -13.7 0.1514 0.1509 0.1499 0.1507 4.0 × 10−7 44.0

3 -1 -1 17.6 -18.5 0.0519 0.0501 0.0505 0.0508 3.5 ×1 0−6 387.5

Trials 4-6:

Q1 Q2
1 ηC 1 ηC

# Q1 Q2 E-field E-field Distance Distance Distance Average F (magnitude) 1/R^2

(V/m) (degrees) r (m) r (m) r (m) r (m) (N)

4 1 1 1.14 135.0 0.1008 0.1004 0.0999 0.1004 8.9 ×1 0−7 99.2

5 1 1 0.12 90.6 0.1514 0.1509 0.1499 0.1507 4.0 × 10−7 44.0

 6 1 1 12.6 15.1 0.0519 0.0501 0.0505 0.0508 3.5 ×1 0−6 387.5

500

400

300
1/R^2

200

100

0
0.00E+00 1.00E-06 2.00E-06 3.00E-06 4.00E-06
Force (N)

Trial 7:

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5
1 ηC 1 ηC −1 η C −1 η C −1 η C

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 E- E-field Distance Distance Distance Average F 1/R^2

# field (degrees) r (m) r (m) r (m) r (m) (magnitude)
(V/m) (N)

4 1 1 -1 -1 -1 94.4 0.0 0.2542 0.2501 0.2499 0.2514 1.4 ×1 0−7 14.8

Part 2: Hands on Experiment

When performing the experiment with the charged tape I found that the non-sticky side of
the tape could attract paper. But the paper was not able to attract another piece of paper. Two
pieces of charged tape repealed each other when they were held close together, no matter which
way you held the tape or sides you showed to the other piece of tape. When you stick two pieces
of tape together and bring it near the hanging tape, the pieces still repel each other. However,
once I ran the tape over the metal faucet the tape stuck together and was attracted to the hanging
tape. Once you take apart the tape stuck together, the piece which used to have its sticky side
stuck to the other one repeals the hanging tape. But the piece that used to have its non-sticky side
attached attracts the hanging tape.
From this experiment I am able to conclude that there only exist two charges, because
items were either repealed or attracted to charges, with like charges repelling one another and
different charges being attracted to each other.

Conclusion:

In this lab I was better able to understand the relationship between charges and how they
affect one another. In the first part of the lab I used a simulation to place both negative and
positive charges around a vector field and find the measurements as well as the distance between
the charges in order to calculate their force vectors in Newtons using Coulombs law. I found that
there was a positive correlation between force and the inverse of the distance squared, which
makes sense because the inverse of the distance squared is actually part of the equation for
Coulombs law. In the second part of the lab I performed a hands-on experiment using tape and
paper, and as explained above in the results section I was able to conclude from this part of the
lab that there only exist two types of charges, positive charges and negative charges. I was also
able to conclude that similar charges when close to one another will repel each other, whereas
different charges will do the opposite and be attracted to one another. This lab gave me better
insight into how charges work in our world at different magnitudes of force and size, as well as
how different naturally occurring forces can be explained through the attracting and repelling
capabilities of electric charges.

References:

“University Physics Volume 2.” OpenStax, Pearson, 6 Oct. 2016, openstax.org/books/university-

physics-volume-2/pages/preface.