Laboratory Worksheet

General Physics 2
Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics

Lab Activity 1
Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law 30 minutes

Let’s Review
When you zoom inside the structure of an atom, you will see that it is made up of protons,
neutrons, and electrons. These particles have intrinsic properties similar to their mass in
the sense that it interacts with the presence of another mass. This property is called the
electric charge, measured in coulombs (C) . A proton has an electric charge +1.602 ✕ 10-
19
C, an electron has an electric charge -1.602 ✕ 10-19 C, and a neutron has no charge. Any
object that has an electric charge experiences a force when exposed to an electric field.
This is similar to how an object that has mass experiences a gravitational force (weight)
when exposed to a gravitational field, see Fig. 1.1. We can study the force experienced by
an electric charge using Coulomb’s Law.

Fig. 1.1. Gravitational attraction on mA and mB separated by r and

electrostatic attraction/repulsion on qA and qB separated by
r.

The electrostatic force between two charged particles can either be attractive or
repulsive. Like charges repel while unlike charges attract. Given two charged
particles q1 and q2, the magnitude of the coulombic force is given by:

where k = 9.0 ✕ 109 Nm2/C2 (Coulomb constant or electrostatic constant).

Lab Activity 1. Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law 1
Objectives
At the end of this laboratory activity, the students should be able to determine the
electric force between two charged balloons.

Materials
● balloons
● digital food weighing scale
● string or yarn
● tape
● meter stick
● scientific calculator

Procedure
1. Inflate two balloons so that they are of the same size.
2. Measure the mass of the two balloons using the digital weighing scale and record
them.
3. Tape one end of the string to the balloon and the other end to the ceiling such
that it hangs like a pendulum. Record the mass of the hanging balloon as m and
the length of the string as L.
4. Using the other balloon, rub it on your hair for about ten times. This should give
a net charge to the balloon.
5. Place the charged balloon near the pendulum and record the following distances:
a. r = the separation distance between the charged balloon and the hanging
balloon
b. d = the horizontal distance of the hanging balloon from its equilibrium
position
6. The setup should be the same as in Fig. 1. 2.
 Fig. 1.2. Experimental setup

7. Repeat the experiment for five times using different sets of charged balloons and
hanging balloons while keeping L as constant and varying r and d.
8. Plot the values d and 1/r2.
9. Using the equation for Fe, calculate the electrostatic force for the five trials. The
formula that will be used to calculate Fe is provided below.
● For the pendulum to be suspended at a certain distance d from its
equilibrium position, the electrostatic force between the two balloons must
counter the restoring force due to gravity. The restoring force is given by:

We can calculate the electrostatic force by equating it to the restoring force.

Data and Results
Table 1.1. Data for r, d, and m on different trials

Trial Distance Distance of Mass of the

between hanging hanging Electrostatic
charged balloon from balloon (m) Force
balloon and equilibrium (Fe)
hanging position (d)
balloon (r)

0.22m 0.085m 1.8g 0.018N

1
0.21m 0.08m 1.8g 0.017N
2
0.23m 0.09m 1.8g 0.02N
3
0.2m 0.075m 1.8g 0.016N
4
0.22m 0.085m 1.8g 0.018N
5
 0.1

0.09
0.09

0.09
0.09

0.08
d (m)

0.08

0.08
0.08

0.07

0.07
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
1/r2(m^2)

Calculations

Show your computation for here.

(1.8)(9.8)(0.085)
F e= Fe =0.018 N
85

(1.8)( 9.8)(0.08)
F e= Fe =0.017 N
85

(1.8)(9.8)(0.09)
F e= Fe =0.02 N
85

(1.8)(9.8)(0.075)
F e= Fe =0.016 N
85
Guide Questions
Answer the following questions.
1. How would you describe the graph of the distances d vs 1/r2?

The graph would likely be described as linear graph but not that exactly linear.
The measured distance between the two charged balloons and the distance from
equilibrium position of the balloon are constantly changing but not that
respectively.

2. What relationships can be observed between the two distances d and r? Explain.

The distance between the two charged balloons (r) and the distance from
equilibrium position (d) is inversely proportional. If r increases, the distance from
equilibrium position of the balloon is decreasing and if r decreases, the distance
from equilibrium position of the balloon will start to increase.

3. What can you say on the behavior of the electrostatic force (Fe) by varying the
distance (r)? You may back-up your claim from the results of your experiment.

In electrostatics, the electrical force between two charged objects is inversely

related to the distance of separation between the two objects. Increasing the
separation distance between objects decreases the force of attraction or repulsion
between the objects.

4. What if you replaced the negatively charged balloon with a positively charged
object? Would it now be attractive or repulsive? Will the trend between the
distances d and r change or remain the same?

Once one of the balloons become negatively charge and there is a positively
charged balloon, it will probably be attractive. The distances d and r will change
into directly proportional since the two charged balloon change into attractive,
 Conclusion

I therefore conclude that electrical forces also have a magnitude or strength. Like most
types of forces, there are a variety of factors, which influence the magnitude of the
electrical force. Two like-charged balloons will repel each other and two opposite charged
balloons will attract each other. If the particles are both positively or negatively charged,
the force is repulsive and if they are of opposite charge, it is attractive. This called
Coulomb's law and was the first attempt to understand the electric force and like the
gravitational force, the Coulomb force is an inverse square law.

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