LABORATORY ACTIVITY 1

COULOMB’S LAW

INTRODUCTION
It was Charles Augustin de Coulomb, a French scientist, who studied in detail the
interaction forces of charged particles. He used a torsion balance which was similar Henri
Cavendish used 13 years later to study gravitational interaction. Coulomb was able to
obtain some notable data with the aid of the torsion balance. He was able to propose the
laws of attraction and repulsion, and other principles that are significant in the study of
electricity and magnetism. In this activity, you will be able to learn the law which governs
the interaction of charged bodies as what Coulomb found out.

OBJECTIVE
• To determine the relationship among magnitude of charges, distance and the
electrostatic force between charges.

MATERIALS
PhET Simulation
1 laptop / PC / mobile phone
10 graph papers

PROCEDURE
1. Open the PhET simulation. Under Physics, choose Coulomb’s Law. Select Macro
Scale.
2. Check the Scientific Notation box.
3. Vary the magnitude of Charge 2 to -4 µC. Observe what happens to the direction of
the forces exerted by q1 to q2 and q2 to q1. Sketch the free-body diagram for q1 and q2 in
Illustration #1. Also, under the illustration describe the magnitude of force exerted by q 1
to q2 and q2 to q1.

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4. Now, change the magnitude of both charges to +5 µC. Then, change the magnitude
of q1 to -5 µC, while +5 µC. Compare the direction of the forces and sketch the free-body
diagrams for both cases under Illustration #2.
5. Position q1 to the 0-cm mark and set its magnitude to +1 µC. Position q2 at the 2-cm
mark and change its magnitude to +1 µC. Record the resulting force in Data Table 1.
6. Vary the position of charge q2 (without changing its magnitude) to 2 cm, 4 cm, 6 cm,
and 10 cm. Record the resulting forces in DATA TABLE 1.
7. Repeat procedure 5 and 6 but this time set charge q2 to -1 µC. Then, record the
resulting forces in DATA TABLE 2.
8. Using a graphing paper, sketch the graph of distance between charge q1 and q2 and
resulting force and name the graph Distance vs Force Graph. Then, connect the points
using line of best fit.
9. Reset the settings by tapping/clicking the orange reset button on the lower right
corner of the interface.
10. Check the Scientific Notation box.
11. Set the magnitude of charge q1 and q2 to +1 µC. Record the resulting force in DATA
TABLE 3.
12. Increase the magnitude of charge q2 by +1 µC up to +10 µC. Then, record the
resulting force in DATA TABLE 3.
13. Repeat procedures 11 and 12, but now set q2 to -1 µC. Then, decrease the magnitude
of charge q2 by 1 µC up to -10 µC. Record the resulting force in DATA TABLE 4.

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POST-LABORATORY REPORT SHEET

Name: ________________________________ Score:______________

Section: _________________ Date: _______________
Group Number: __________________

LABORATORY ACTIVITY 1 ______________________________________

Illustration #1

Illustration #2

DATA TABLE 1

Distance between two charges Resulting force

cm N

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 DATA TABLE 2

Distance between two charges Resulting force

cm N

DATA TABLE 3
Magnitude of q1 Magnitude of q2 Resulting force
µC µC N

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 DATA TABLE 4

Magnitude of q1 Magnitude of q2 Resulting force

µC µC N

GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. Based on Data Table 1 and 2, what happens to the resulting force as the distance
increases? By what factor does the resulting force change?
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2. Based on your graph, what type of proportionality does Distance vs Resulting force
have?
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3. Based on the Data Table 3 and 4, how does the resulting force change when you
change the magnitude of the charges?
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4. Does the sign of the charge affect the magnitude of the forces exerted by the charges
to each other? What does the sign signify?
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5. Write down below the mathematical proportion between your answer in Guide
Questions number 2 and 3.

CONCLUSION
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PRE-LABORATORY REPORT SHEET

Name: ________________________________ Score:______________

Section: _________________ Date: _______________
Group Number: __________________

LABORATORY ACTIVITY 2 ______________________________________

OBJECTIVES
1. ________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________

MATERIALS

PROCEDURAL DIAGRAM

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LABORATORY ACTIVITY 2
CHARGES AND FIELDS

INTRODUCTION
You have learned that when there are two charges at rest separated by a distance, one
charge exerts an electrostatic force to the other. But, how does the charge know/detect
the presence of another charge in its surrounding? In this experiment, the concept of field
will be introduced. It was Michael Faraday who developed the concept of field in electric
forces. After this activity, you will be able to know the purpose of a field in electric forces.\

OBJECTIVES
• To define electric field operationally
• To determine the path of electric field produced by a positive and a negative charge
• To illustrate the field lines created by two or more charges.

MATERIALS
PhET Simulation
1 laptop / PC / mobile phone
10 graph papers

PROCEDURE
1. Open the PhET simulation, under Physics, select Charges and Fields.
2. Check the Values and Grid checkbox.
3. Place one +1 nC charge in one of the intersections in the grid in the middle left side.
Observe the direction of the lines that surround the charge. These lines represent the
electric field. Sketch the path of the field produced by the positive charge in Illustration
#1. NOTE: Label all your illustrations.

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4. Using a digital rule, place a sensor 50.0 cm away from the positive charge,
horizontally. Now, note the value (under the degree measurement) in DATA TABLE 1.
This value is the electric field.
5. Move the sensor every 50.0 cm until 500.00 cm and note the value in DATA TABLE
1.
6. Graph the distance versus the electric field in a graphing paper and then draw the
line of best fit
7. Remove the positive charge and replace it with one -1 nC charge anywhere in the
grid. Observe the direction of the field and illustrate it under Illustration #2.
8. Repeat procedure 4 to 6 with the negative charge and note the values in DATA
TABLE 2 and sketch the graph and draw the line of best fit.
9. Place two positive charges with a separation distance of 300.0 cm. Observe the field
lines and illustrate it in Illustration #3.
10. Remove the two positive charges and replace them with two negative charges.
Observe the field lines and illustrate it in Illustration #4.
11. Remove the two negative charges and now place a positive and a negative charge
300.0 cm away from each other. Sketch the field lines in Illustration #4.

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POST-LABORATORY REPORT SHEET

Name: ________________________________ Score:______________

Section: _________________ Date: _______________
Group Number: __________________

LABORATORY ACTIVITY 2 ______________________________________

Illustration #1

DATA TABLE 1

Distance from the charge Electric field value

cm V/m

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Illustration #2

DATA TABLE 2

Distance from the charge Electric field value

cm V/m

Illustration # 3

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 Illustration #4

GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. When is electric field present?
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2. Based on your observations, what is the difference between the field created by a
negative charge and a positive charge?
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3. Based on the graph you made, what is the relationship between distance of the
charge and the sensor to the electric field?
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4. How would the field lines if a negative charge, positive charge, and negative charge
are placed horizontally 200.0 cm away from each other? Show your illustration below.

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CONCLUSION
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