An electric field surrounds all electrically charged particles. With electric fields, one can determine the effects of all of the charges in the environment. In this lab entitled “Electric Fields and Potential Mapping”, the main goal obtained was to examine and deliberate the effects of an electric field and electric potential. Examples of some effects of electric fields include resultant forces, changes in motion, changes in current flow, etc. By using conductive paper connected to a power supply and a voltage probe, an observation of the effects of an electric field could be carried out in a more tangible setting.
Experimental Procedure: As a means to observe electrical influences or effects, a circuit was used. The type of circuit used in this experiment was a voltage source connected to a capacitor. The voltage source was then connected to carbon paper with conductive ink. This experiment furthermore used two different conductive ink set-ups on a mounting board (a Bar Set-up and Point Set-up). In order to observe the effects of an electric field in this experiment, a galvanometer was used. The galvanometer additionally allowed a further analysis by measuring electric potential at different points on the two papers. Finally as a means to analyze the effects of electric field and potential the galvanometer was connected to a hand-held probe, which was then placed at various points on each of the conductive ink set-ups. At various points, each individual recorded the galvanometer readings and converted each calculation into mV.
Measurements and Preliminary Calculations: Galvanometer Readings- Bar Set-Up | 20 | 540 mV | 1140 mV | 2160 mV | 2820 mV | 15 | 222 mV | 1200 mV | 2400 mV | 3000 + mV | 10 | 120 mV | 1320 mV | 2400 mV | 3000+ mV | 5 | 540 mV | 1320 mV | 2400 mV | 3000+ mV | 0 | 600 mV | 1320 mV | 2700 mV | 2700 mV | x/y Location | 6 | 10 | 15 | 19 |
Galvanometer Readings-Point Set-Up | 20 | 780