Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
ACTIVITY #1
Purpose: To determine how charged objects respond to one another and what kind of
charge is transferred when a charged object contacts an uncharged one.
Pre Lab Questions
1. When acetate and silk are rubbed together, what is the charge on both materials?
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2. When ebonite and fur are rubbed together, what is the charge on both materials?
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Materials:
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pithball on string
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silk
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fur
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acetate rod
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ebonite rod.
Procedure:
3. Charge the acetate rod by rubbing it with silk. Bring the rod close to the pith ball
(without touching it) and record your observations.
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4. Touch the charged acetate rod to the pith ball. Then bring the acetate rod close to
the pithball (without touching it) and record your observations.
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5. Charge the ebonite rod by rubbing it with fur. Bring the rod close to the pith ball
(without touching it) and record your observations.
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Page - 1
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
6. Touch the charged ebonite rod to the pith ball. Then bring the ebonite rod close to
the pithball (without touching it) and record your observations.
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7. Charge the pithball by touching it with the charged ebonite rod. Bring the charged
acetate rod close to the pithball and record your observations.
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8. Charge the pithball by touching it with the charged acetate rod. Bring the charged
ebonite rod close to the pithball and record your observations.
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Illustrations
Draw a diagram to represent the charges on each of the materials before and after each
procedure step, based on your observations
Step #
Before
After
Page - 2
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
Discussion Questions
9. How do objects with the same charge respond to one another?
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10. How do objects with the opposite charge respond to one another?
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Page - 3
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
ACTIVITY#2
Purpose: To understand electric static charge
Pre Lab Questions
11. Where is acetate located on the electrostatic series?
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12. Where is vinyl located on the electrostatic series?
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13. Where is paper located on the electrostatic series?
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Materials
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clear strip (Acetate)
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one paper towel
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green strip (Vinyl)
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watch glass
Procedure
14. Place the watch glass round part facing down so that it can rotate freely
15. Charge the green strip with the paper towel by rubbing it vigorously on one side
16. Balance it on the watch glass.
17. Charge up the clear strip with the paper towel by rubbing it vigorously on one side
18. Put the clear strip NEAR the green strip (do NOT touch it).
19. Record your observations in the table below
20. Repeat the previous steps but switch the position of each material
21. Record your observations below
22. Repeat the previous steps but use the same materials (see observation tables)
Observations
Clear strip NEAR green strip on watch glass
Green strip NEAR green strip on watch glass
What happened?
What happened?
Why?
Why?
Page - 4
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
Clear strip NEAR clear strip on watch glass
Green strip NEAR clear strip on watch glass
What happened?
What happened?
Why?
Why?
Illustrations
Draw a diagram to represent the charges on each of the materials before and after each
procedure step, based on your observations
Step #
Before
After
Page - 5
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
Discussion Questions
23. If I put a negative charge near a negative charge, it __________________________
24. If I put a positive charge near a negative charge, it __________________________
25. If I put a positive charge near a positive charge, it ___________________________
Page - 6
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
ACTIVITY #3
Purpose: In this activity, you will make a light bulb glow without using electricity from a
wall outlet or a battery.
Pre-Lab Questions
26. Read over the procedure. What will the light bulb be used for?
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27. Where is wool located on the electrostatic series?
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28. Where is vinyl located on the electrostatic series?
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29. Where is ebonite located on the electrostatic series?
_____________________
Materials
-
Piece of wool
-
fluorescent light bulb (not an incandescent bulb)
-
green strip (Vinyl)
-
ebonite rod
Safety: Handle the glass light bulb with care to avoid breakage.
Procedure
30. Dim the overhead lights in the room.
31. Vigorously rub the plastic comb with a piece of wool or flannel.
32. Touch the part of the comb that was rubbed to the light bulb and observe/record
carefully.
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33. Repeat the above but using an ebonite rod. Observe/record carefully.
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______________________________________________________________________________________________
Page - 7
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
Discussion Questions
34. Use an electrostatic series to determine the charge of the vinyl stick after it was
rubbed with the piece of wool.
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35. What did you observe when the rubbed vinyl was touched to the light bulb? Use
static electricity to explain why this result occurred.
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36. Was there a difference in your observations from when you used the vinyl and when
you used the ebonite? Should there have been? Explain why
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_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Page - 8
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
ACTIVITY #4
Purpose: Use and understand how an electroscope works by both induction and
conduction.
Pre Lab
37. Read the Background Information below and describe in your own words what an
electroscope is and how it is used.
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Materials
-
Piece of wool
-
ebonite rod
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Glass rod
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electroscope
Background Information
An electroscope is a device that is used to detect and identify a static charge. We
will use the metal leaf electroscope, it has two strips of metal that bend easily and the
leaves are attached to a central metal rod with a metal sphere at the top. Charges move
freely within the metal (conductor).
Electroscopes can be charged by contact, the object will end up with the same
charges as the charging object. Discharging is when electrons are added or removed from a
charged object to restore a neutral charge
Charging something through induction is creating a charge on an object without
actually contacting it. When you bring a charged object close to a neutral object, you create
a separation in charges making one side of the object positively charged and the other side
negatively charged.
Page - 9
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
Electroscope
A device for detecting the presence of electric charge
Procedure
38. Charge the black rod first with the fur and go towards the scope either touching the
scope directly or hovering above it.
39. Touching the scope is conduction and not touching the scope is induction.
40. Record your observations. Note what happens for conduction and induction.
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41. Repeat the same thing for the glass rod. Note what happens for conduction and
induction.
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Discussion Questions
42. What was the charge on the aluminum foil when the ebonite rod was used?
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43. What was the charge on the aluminum foil when the glass rod was used?
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______________________________________________________________________________________________
Page - 10
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
ACTIVITY #5
Purpose: To understand how a rubber balloon can become electrically charged.
Pre-Lab Questions
44. Where is the rubber balloon located on the electrostatic series?
________________
45. Where is human hair located on the electrostatic series?
________________
Materials
-
Paper strips
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Styrofoam
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paper clips
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balloon
Procedure
46. Inflate a balloon and tie a knot (if not already done so)
47. Rub the balloon on your shirt to create electric static
48. Move it towards the items listed on the chart below and record whether the balloon
was attracted to the object, repelled the object, or no reaction occurred. Record your
observations in the table below.
49. Include an illustration (including the charges for both materials)
Observations
Balloon with…
Attract or repel
Illustration
Shirt or hair
Paper clips
Page - 11
Name:______________________
SNC1
Date:____________________
Investigation – Electrostatic Series
Strips of paper
A different balloon
Styrofoam
Drywall
Page - 12