Coulumbs Law Lab Report
Coulomb's Law
1. Objective - To study the validity of Coulomb’s law on a simple electroscope. This will be split into two parts; first measuring the the force as a function of distance, and second we will look at how the magnitude and sign of the charges affect the force.
2. Theory- As is well known, like charges repel and opposite charges attract. That being said, the strength of those forces also depends on the distance between the two charges. By observing this force over countless experiments Charles-Augustin de Coulomb discovered an inverse square law relating the force between two charges to the distance between them. This relationship is described by the following equation:
Equation 1:
In this equation, and are the charges on point charges 1 and 2 and r is the distance between the two charges. The direction of the force in this special case is always along a straight line drawn between the two charges. Additionally, it is important to note that charge is conserved; it can be moved but cannot be created or destroyed. Specifically, in this lab, we will move the charges around to setup a test of Coulomb’s law on a simple electroscope. As mentioned above, the experiment will be split into two parts, first measuring the force as a function of distance and then we will look at how the magnitude and sign of the charges affects the force. Lastly, we will use Equation 1 above to determine the amount of charge (in Coulombs) that we can generate with static electricity.
3. Experimental Setup - The apparatus used in this experiment included: an electroscope chamber with suspended sphere and top cover, 2 guide blocks with spheres, cotton and wool squares, plastic rods, and a white vinyl strip. It is crudely drawn below.
Figure 1 - Electroscope Setup
4. Procedures Part 1 - Charging a Sphere 1. Began by removing the right side guide block and setting it
1. Objective - To study the validity of Coulomb’s law on a simple electroscope. This will be split into two parts; first measuring the the force as a function of distance, and second we will look at how the magnitude and sign of the charges affect the force.
2. Theory- As is well known, like charges repel and opposite charges attract. That being said, the strength of those forces also depends on the distance between the two charges. By observing this force over countless experiments Charles-Augustin de Coulomb discovered an inverse square law relating the force between two charges to the distance between them. This relationship is described by the following equation:
Equation 1:
In this equation, and are the charges on point charges 1 and 2 and r is the distance between the two charges. The direction of the force in this special case is always along a straight line drawn between the two charges. Additionally, it is important to note that charge is conserved; it can be moved but cannot be created or destroyed. Specifically, in this lab, we will move the charges around to setup a test of Coulomb’s law on a simple electroscope. As mentioned above, the experiment will be split into two parts, first measuring the force as a function of distance and then we will look at how the magnitude and sign of the charges affects the force. Lastly, we will use Equation 1 above to determine the amount of charge (in Coulombs) that we can generate with static electricity.
3. Experimental Setup - The apparatus used in this experiment included: an electroscope chamber with suspended sphere and top cover, 2 guide blocks with spheres, cotton and wool squares, plastic rods, and a white vinyl strip. It is crudely drawn below.
Figure 1 - Electroscope Setup
4. Procedures Part 1 - Charging a Sphere 1. Began by removing the right side guide block and setting it