Conceptual Physical Science 6th

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 CHAPTER

8
Static and Current Electricity
8.1 Electric Charge
Conservation of Charge
8.2 Coulomb’s Law
Charge Polarization
8.3 Electric Field
8.4 Electric Potential
8.5 Voltage Sources
8.6 Electric Current
Direct Current and Alternating Current
8.7 Electric Resistance
8.8 Ohm’s Law
Electric Shock
8.9 Electric Circuits
Series Circuits
Parallel Circuits
Parallel Circuits and Overloading
Safety Fuses
8.10 Electric Power

Demonstration Equipment
• Fur, silk, rubber rod, glass or plastic rod, suspended pith balls, or plastic drinking straws as
shown in Figure 8.1
• Electrophorus
• Electrostatic generator
• Batteries, bulbs, and connecting wires
• A 12-volt automobile battery with metal rods extended from the terminals with alligator
clips used to fasten lamps between them (see the sketch below)

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Here we begin with electrostatics, continue on to electric current, to series and parallel electric
circuits, and end with electric power. There’s easily enough material here for two or three more
chapters. This is heavy stuff, so unless you’re going to spend more than a week or so on this
chapter, you may want to set your plow setting near the surface. The material in this chapter
should be supported with lecture demonstrations.
For electrostatics, you’ll want charging apparatus such as rubber and glass rods, plastic
drinking straws, silk and cat’s fur or the equivalent, the electrophorus (a metal plate charged by
induction that rests on a sheet of Plexiglas which has been charged with cat‘s fur, or equivalently,
a pizza pan that rests on a charged vinyl phonograph record), and the Wimshurst machine
(electrostatic generator). If you’re equipment lucky, toss in demonstrations with a Van de Graaff
generator.
For electric currents you simply must use an automobile storage battery with extended
terminals as shown here (and in Figure 8.32 in the text). The extended terminals are simply a pair
of rigid rods, welding rods or simply pieces of thick wire. They are easily inserted and removed if
female connectors are permanently fastened into the battery terminals. Also fasten alligator clips
to the ends of three short lengths of wire fastened to lamps of equal resistance. This is a MUST! It
puts the conceptual in Conceptual Physical Science!

James Redmond tells Paul there are car batteries with side terminal mounts, already threaded to
accept a standard bolt. So the rods can simply be threaded in. No fuss, no muss!
If you’re into puns in your lectures on rainy days, Marshall Ellenstein has a few pictorial puns
on the symbol for resistance that he and coworkers Connie Bownell and Nancy McClure came up
with (“Ohmwork” or ΩF  D, The Physics Teacher, Sept 1991, page 347). A few are:

Answers in order are: Mobile Ohm; Ohm Run; Ohm Stretch; Ohm Sick; Ohmwork; Ohmless; Ohm on the Range; Broken Ohm.

Tom Senior reports that a good source of free batteries may be your local fire department
when they’re promoting smoke detectors. Ann Brandon says you may be able to get free 9-volt
batteries from your Theatre Department who often use them for only a single show.
The order of topics in the lecture sequence below departs somewhat from the order of topics
in the chapter. The ideas of each demo flow nicely to the next. Have your lecture table set up with
rods, pith ball, and charging demos at one end of the table, then an electrophorus, then a
Wimshurst (Figure 8.17) or whatever electrostatic machine, and possibly, the Van de Graaff

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generator (page 191). Then your lecture begins at one end of the table and proceeds in order to
the opposite end. Begin with electrostatics in one lecture, and follow other lectures on electric
currents and their circuits.

In the Practice Book:

• Electric Potential
• Series Circuits
• Parallel Circuits
• Compound Circuits

Next-Time Questions on the IRDVD:

• High-voltage Terminals
• Van de Graaff Generator
• Series Circuit
• Parallel Circuit

In the Lab Manual:

• Electroscopia
• Electric Field Hockey
• Charging Ahead
• Ohm, Ohm on the Range
• Batteries and Bulbs (activity)

Screencasts:
• Electricity
• Coulomb’s Law
• Electric Fields
• Electric Potential
• Ohm’s Law
• Voltage Drop
• Water and Electron Circuits
• Bulbs in Parallel
• Electric Power
• Equivalent Resistance
• Circuit Resistances
• Battery Demo
• Battery Power
• Circuit Medley

SUGGESTED PRESENTATION
Begin by comparing the strength of the electric force to gravitational force—billions of billions of
times stronger. Acknowledge the fundamental rule of electricity: That like charges repel and
unlike charges attract. Why? Nobody knows. Hence we say it is fundamental. Figure 8.1 nicely
and simply illustrates both attraction and repulsion with charged drinking straws.

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Electric Charge
Electrical effects have to do with electric charges, minus for the electron and plus for the proton.
Discuss the near balance that exists in common materials, and the slight imbalance when
electrons transfer from one material to another. Different materials have different affinities for
electrons, which explains why charge transfers from fur to rubber when rubbed. It also explains
why it’s painful for people with silver fillings in their teeth to chew aluminum spitballs. Silver
has more affinity for acquiring electrons than aluminum. The mildly acidic saliva in your mouth
facilitates a flow of electrons, which when transmitted to the nerves of your teeth produce that
familiar unpleasant sensation. Discuss charging.
DEMONSTRATION: Bring out the cat’s fur, rubber and glass rods, and suspended pith
balls (or their alternatives). Explain the transfer of electrons when you rub fur against
rubber rod (and silk against glass). Explain what it means to say an object is electrically
charged, and discuss the conservation of charge.

Coulomb’s Law
Call attention to the similarity and difference between Newton’s law of gravitation and
Coulomb’s law.

Charge Polarization
DEMONSTRATION: Rub a balloon on your hair and show how it sticks
to the wall. Draw a sketch on the board (Figure 8.8) and show in
induction how the attracting charges are slightly closer than the repelling
charges. Closeness wins and it sticks! (Induction will be treated in great
detail in Chapter 15, How Atoms Bond and Molecules Attract.)

DEMONSTRATION: Show the effects of electrical force

and polarization by holding a charged rod near the ends of a
more-than-a-meter-long wooden 2  4, that balances and
easily rotates sideways at its midpoint on a protrusion such
as the bottom of a metal spoon. You can easily set the
massive piece of wood in motion. This is quite impressive!

DEMONSTRATION: Charge the electrophorus, place the insulated metal disk on top of
it, and show that the disk is not charged when removed and brought near a charged pith
ball. Why should it be, for the insulating surface of the electrophorus has more grab on
the electrons than the metal plate. But rest the plate on the electrophorus again and touch
the top of the plate. You’re grounding it (producing a conducting path to ground for the
repelling electrons). Bring the plate near the pith ball and
show that it is charged. Then show this by the flash of light
produced when the charged metal plate is touched to the end
of a gas discharge tube–or a fluorescent lamp. Engage
neighbor discussion of the process demonstrated. Only after
this is generally understood, proceed to the next demo.

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 DEMONSTRATION: Move up the lecture table to the
Wimshurst machine, explaining its similarity to the
electrophorus (actually a rotating electrophorus!). A great
one is shown in Figure 8.17. Show sparks jumping
between the spheres of the machine and so forth, and
discuss the sizes (radii of curvature) of the spheres in
terms of their capacity for storing charge. [The amount of
charge that can be stored before discharging into the air is
directly proportional to the radius of the sphere.] Fasten a
metal point, which has a tiny radius of curvature and hence
a tiny charge storing capacity, to one of the Wimshurst
spheres and demonstrate the leakage of charge.
Under mutual repulsion, charges gather to the region of greatest curvature, the point. Although all
parts of the needle are charged to the same electric voltage, the charge density is greatest at the
point. The electric field intensity about the needle, on the other hand, is greatest about the point,
usually great enough to ionize the surrounding air and provide a conducting path from the charge
concentration. Hence charge readily gathers at points and readily leaks from points.
DEMONSTRATE this leakage and the reaction force (ion propulsion) with a set of metal points
arranged to rotate when charged. This is the “ion propulsion” that science fiction buffs talk about
in space travel. Interestingly enough, this leaking of charge from points causes static with radio
antennas; hence the small metal ball atop automobile antennas.
Discuss lightning rods and show how the bottoms of negatively charged clouds and the
resulting induced positive charge on the surface of the Earth below are similar to the
electrophorus held upside down; where the charged Plexiglas plate is analogous to the clouds and
the metal plate is analogous to the Earth. After sketching the charged clouds and Earth on the
chalkboard, be sure to hold the inverted electrophorus pieces against your drawing on the board in
their respective places. Discuss the lightning rod as a preventer of lightning while showing the
similar function of the metal point attached to the Wimshurst machine. [Notice that one idea is
related to the next in this sequence–very important, as the ideas of electricity are usually difficult
to grasp the first time through. So be sure to take care in moving through this sequence of
demonstrations and their explanations.]

Benjamin Franklin’s kite, by the way, was not struck by lightning. If it had, he would likely
have not been around to report his experience. Franklin showed that the kite collected charges
from the air during a thunderstorm. Hairs on the kite string stood apart, implying that lightning
was a huge electric spark.
After establishing the idea that charge capacity depends on the size and curvature of the
conductor being charged, advance to what your students have been waiting for: The Van de
Graaff generator (for humor, invented by Robert Generator).

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 DEMONSTRATION: When showing the long sparks that jump from the dome of the
generator to the smaller grounded sphere, do as Bruce Bernard suggests and hold a
lightning rod (any sharp pointed conductor) in the vicinity of the dome and the sparking
will stop. Bring the lightning rod farther away and the frequency of sparking will resume.
DEMONSTRATION: Set a cup of puffed rice or puffed wheat on
top of the Van de Graaff generator. Your students will like the
fountain that follows when you charge it. Or do as Marshall
Ellenstein does and place a stack of aluminum pie plates on the
dome and watch them one by one levitate and fly away. Then snuff
out a match by holding it near the charged dome. Introduce (or
reintroduce) the idea of the electric field at this time, the aura of
energy that surrounds all charged things. Compare electric and
gravitational fields.

DEMONSTRATION: Hold a fluorescent lamp tube in the field to show that it lights up
when one end of the tube is closer to the dome than the other end. Relate this to potential
difference, and show that when both ends of the fluorescent tube are equidistant from the
charged dome, light emission ceases. (This can be affected when your hand is a bit closer
to the dome than the far end of the tube, so current does not flow through the tube when
the dome discharges through you to the ground. There is no potential difference across
the tube and therefore no illuminating current, which sets the groundwork for your next
lecture on electric current.)
The Van de Graaff generator nicely illustrates the difference between electric potential energy
and electric voltage: Although it is normally charged to thousands of volts, the amount of charge
is relatively small so the electric potential energy is relatively small. That’s why you’re normally
not harmed when it discharges through your body. Very little energy flows through you. In
contrast, you wouldn’t intentionally become the short-circuit for household 110 volts because
although the voltage is much lower, the transfer of energy is appreciable. Less energy per charge,
but many many more charges! [All this is analogous to thermal energy—high temperature may or
may not be associated with high or low thermal energy. Recall the white hot sparks of the
fireworks sparkler—similarly, high energy per molecule, but not many molecules. Both the high-
temperature sparkler and the high-voltage generator are relatively harmless.]
Your electrostatics lecture should end with the Van de Graaff demo and discussion of electric
fields, potential energy, and potential. Lillian Lee Hewitt opens the chapter with the photo of her
interaction with a highly-charged Van de Graaff generator. The following question is a bridge to
your next lecture on electric currents.
NEXT-TIME QUESTION: Why does current flow when one
end of the fluorescent tube is held closer to the charged Van
de Graaff generator, but not when both ends are equidistant?
[The simplified answer you’re looking for at this point is that
the close end is in a stronger part of the field than the far
end. More energy per charge means more voltage at the near
end. With a voltage difference across the tube, you get a
current. When both ends are equidistant, there is no voltage
difference across the tube, and no current. This leads into
electric current. Strictly speaking, the current path is more
than simply between the ends of the tube; it goes through you also and to ground where it
returns to the generator.]

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Electric Current
Define electric current and relate it to the lighting of the lamp via the Van de Graaff Generator
from your previous lecture. Explain this in terms of current being directly proportional to a
difference in voltage. That is, one end of the lamp was in a stronger part of the energy field than
the other–more energy per charge on one end than the other–more voltage at one end than the
other. Write on the board Current  difference. (You’re on your way to Ohm’s law.)

Electric Current and Voltage

Relate voltage to the idea of electrical pressure. Emphasize that a difference in electric voltage
must exist. Cite how a battery provides this difference in a sustained way compared to suddenly
discharging a Van de Graaff generator. Generators at power plants also provide a voltage
difference across wires that carry this difference to consumers. Cite examples of voltage
differences in cases of birds sitting on bare high-voltage wires, walking unharmed on the third
rail of electric-powered train tracks, and the inadvisability of using electric appliances in the
bathtub. Electric current is measured in amperes, named after Andre Ampere (who was forced to
witness the guillotine death of his father during the French Revolution).

Electrical Resistance
Introduce the idea of electrical resistance, and complete Ohm’s law. Compare the resistances of
various materials, and the resistances of various thickness of wires of the same metal. Call
attention to the glass supports on the wires that make up high-voltage power lines; the rubber
insulation that separates the pair of wires in a common lamp cord.

Ohm’s Law
Complete your chalkboard equation by introducing resistance and you have Ohm’s law.
DEMONSTRATION: Connect two or three lamps to a battery and relate the current, as
viewed by the emitted light, to the voltage of the battery and the resistance of the lamps.
(Be sure the lamps are not bright enough to make viewing uncomfortable.) Interchange
lamps of low and high resistance, relating this to the brightness of the lamps.

Electric Shock
Discuss electric shock and why electricians place one hand behind their back when probing
questionable circuits [to prevent a difference in potential across the heart of the body]. Discuss
how being electrified produces muscle contractions that account for such instances as “not being
able to let go” of hot wires, and “being thrown” by electric shock.
Discuss the function of the third prong on electric plugs (that it provides a ground wire
between the appliance and the ground). The ground prong is longer than the pair of flat prongs.
Why? (So it will be first to be connected when plugging it into a socket, establishing a ground
connection slightly before the appliance is electrically connected. This path to ground prevents
harm to the user if there is a short circuit in the appliance that would otherwise include the user as
a path to ground.)

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Direct Current and Alternating Current
Discuss the differences between DC and AC. Compare the DC current that flows in a circuit
powered with a battery to the AC current that flows in a household circuit (powered by a
generator). A hydrodynamic analogy for AC is useful: Imagine powering a washing-machine
agitator with water power. Verbally describe with gestures a pair of clear plastic pipes connected
to a paddle wheel at the bottom of the agitator, fashioned so water that sloshes to-and-fro in the
pipes causes the agitator to rotate to-and-fro. Suppose the free ends of the plastic pipe are
connected to a special socket in the wall. The socket is powered by the power utility. It supplies
no water, but consists of a couple of pistons that exert a pumping action, one out and the other in,
then vice versa, in rapid alternation. When the ends of the pipe containing water are connected to
the pistons, the water in the pipes is made to slosh back and forth. Power is delivered to the
washing machine. There is an important point to note here: The source of flowing substance,
water or electrons, is supplied by you. The power company supplies no water, just as the power
utilities supply no electrons! The greater the load on the agitator, the more energy the power
company must deliver to the action of the alternating pistons, affording a visual model for
household current—especially with the transparent plastic pipes where your students can “see”
the sloshing water!

Speed of Electrons in a Circuit

To impart the idea of how DC current travels in a circuit, use the following analogy. Ask the class
to suppose that there is a long column of marchers at the front of the room, all standing at rest
close together. Walk to the end of this imaginary column and give a shove to the “last person.”
Ask the class to imagine the resulting impulse traveling along the line until the first marcher is
jostled against the wall. (Or use the analogy of loosely coupled railroad cars.) Then ask if this is a
good analogy for how electricity travels in a wire. The answer is no. Such is a good analogy for
how sound travels, but not electricity. Cite how slowly the disturbance traveled, and how slowly
sound travels compared to light or electricity. Again call attention to the column of marchers and
walk to the far end and call out, “Forward march!” As soon as the command reaches each
individual, each steps forward. The marcher at the beginning of the column, except for the slight
time required for the sound to reach her, steps immediately. State that this is an analogy for
electricity. Except for the brief time it takes for the electric field set up at the power source to
travel through the wire, nearly the speed of light, electrons at the far end of the circuit respond
immediately. State that the speed at which the command “forward march” traveled is altogether
different from how fast each marcher moved upon receiving that command—and that the velocity
of the electric signal (nearly the speed of light) is quite a bit different than the drift velocity of
electrons (typically 0.01 cm/s) in a circuit.
CHECK YOUR NEIGHBOR: When turning the key to start a car, electrons migrate from
the negative battery terminal through the electric network to the starter motor and back to
the positive battery terminal. What’s a ballpark time for electrons to leave the negative
terminal, go through the circuit, and return to the battery? Less than a millisecond? Less
than a second? About a second or two? Or about a day? (Amazingly, the latter answer!)
Ask for an estimate of the number of electrons pumped by the local power plant into the homes
and industries locally in the past year. [Zero.] Stress the idea that power plants sell not electrons,
but energy. Discuss the origin of electrons in electric circuits.
CHECK YOUR NEIGHBOR: A lightning flash consists of about 1 coulomb of charge.
However, a penny contains over 100,000 coulombs of electrons. Should pennies come
with a warning label?

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 [No label! Why? A penny also contains about the same number of protons, so it is
effectively neutral. You wouldn’t want to be near a small object with a NET charge of
100,000 coulombs!]

Electric Power—the Rate at of Doing Work

Distinguish between energy and power. Electric power is usually expressed in kilowatts, and
electric energy in kilowatt-hours. It is effective if you use an actual electric bill to make your
point. Note that a kilowatt-hour is 1000 joules per second times 3600 seconds, or 3600 kJ.

Electric Circuits—Series and Parallel

We recommend introducing series and parallel circuits using only equal resistances. Use small
lamps of equal resistance connected to short wires with alligator clips at their ends for easy
connection to the extended terminals of the auto battery described earlier. Three lamps are
sufficient. Sketches are repeated for emphasis.

DEMONSTRATION: Connect the ends of one of the lamps directly to the battery
terminals. It glows, evidence of current flow. Then insert the rods and repeat. It glows as
before. Slide the lamp farther up the rods and the glow is unchanged. It is easily accepted
that the 12-volt potential difference between the terminals is also established along and
across the full length of the rods. State how the rods could extend across campus to
similarly light a lamp. State how the resistance of the rods is very small compared to the
resistance of the lamp filament. Compare the rods to a long lamp cord. Then to power
lines from power plants to consumers. Take your time with these ideas, for they are
central!

Series Circuits
DEMONSTRATION CONTINUED: Attach two lamps in series via alligator clips.
Before connecting the double lamp circuit to the rods, ask for a neighbor check about the
relative brightness of light. [Since the resistance is doubled, the current is halved and the
brightness diminished—brightness is “less than half” because most of the energy is going
to heat and not light. The effects of heat can be discerned for low currents when no light
is seen.] Point out that the voltage across each lamp is 6 volts when connected in series.
Repeat the process for three lamps in series, where three lamps share the 12 volts, and
describe the reduced current in terms of Ohm’s law. A bonus is connecting a lecture-size
ammeter to your circuit.

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Parallel Circuits
DEMONSTRATION CONTINUED: Now connect a pair of lamps in parallel. Before
making the second connection, ask for a neighbor check about the relative brightnesses.
It’s easy to see that the voltage across each lamp is not reduced as with the series
connection, but each is impressed with a full 12 volts. [Nearly a full 12 volts; line voltage
diminishes with increased current through the battery—perhaps information overload at
this stage of learning.] Repeat with three lamps after a neighbor check. Ask about the
“equivalent resistance” of the circuit as more lamps are attached in parallel (or the
equivalent resistance to people flow if more doors are introduced to the classroom). The
lesser resistance is consistent with Ohm’s law. Do as David Housden does in Figure 8.32
and advance to a series-parallel circuit. An ammeter between one of the rods and the
terminal shows line current, which is seen to increase as lamps are added. This is the
simplest and most visually comprehensible demo of parallel circuits I have discovered.
Neat?
CHECK YOUR NEIGHBOR: Consider two resistors to be connected in a circuit. Which
will have more resistance, if they are connected in series or in parallel?
[A series connection will have more resistance, regardless of the values of resistance; the
equivalent resistance of a parallel connection will always be less than that of the smaller
resistor.]
The checkout counters in grocery stores make a nice analogy for the greater current that flows in
a parallel circuit. More lanes offer less resistance.

Home Circuits and Fuses

Discuss home lighting circuits. Draw a simple parallel circuit of lamps and appliances on the
board. Estimate the current flowing through each device, and point out that it makes no difference
how many of the other devices are turned on. Show on your diagram the currents in the branches
and in the lead wires. Show where the fuse goes and describe its function. Then short your circuit
and blow the fuse.

Overloading
Discuss the consequences of too many appliances operating on the same line, and why different
sets of lines are directed to various parts of the home. Most home wiring is rated at 30 amperes
maximum. A common air conditioner uses about 2400 watts, so if operating on 120 volts the
current would be 20 amps. To start, the current is more. (Why the starting current is larger would
be premature to explain here–if it comes up you can explain that every motor is also a generator,
and the input electricity is met with a generated output that reduces the net current flow.) If other
devices are drawing current on the same line, the fuse will blow when the air conditioner is turned
on, so a 220-volt line is usually used for such heavy appliances. Point out that most of the world
operates normally at 220–240 volts.

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