Lab 8

GS104
Lab Report
Experiment # 8
Static electricity or Electrostatics David Case:
March 6, 2015

Experiment #8 Static Electricity or Electrostatics

Objective:

To explore the concepts of static electricity and to discover how many types of electrical charges exist and how they interact with each other
Materials:
1 Scrap of white paper 1 Transparent tape 1 Aluminum Foil - 6"x 6" 2 Cup, Styrofoam, 8 oz 1 Dark paper - 1/2 Sheet 1 Ruler, Metric 1 Fabric Swatch-5 pieces 1 Rabbit fur, swatch - 4"x2" 2 Balloons 1 Pepper Packets 1 Salt Packets

Part I
A. What happened when you brought the rubbed ruler close to the paper, salt, and pepper?
It attracted the paper and most of the salt and pepper on the ruler.
1. Were all three substances affected equally?
Those affected equally were the wool, nylon, and the fur.
2. What explanations can you offer for why this happened?
These conductors had equal attractions. The polyester, silk and cotton did not.
B. What combinations of cloth and ruler seemed to produce the greatest effects?
The ones that was the most affects was the wool material.

Part II
A. Why do you think the charged ruler affected the original suspended strip as it did?
I believe it was due to the charges being transferred from the object and the conductor.

B. What happened when you brought the two separated tapes close to each other?
They separated the pieces of the paper due to static electricity.

C. How many types of charges did you work with in this exercise?
There are two, negative and positive charges.

D. If a third type of charge existed, how would it affect the two oppositely charged strips in this activity?
The charge would have be neutral.

E. Why do you think the charged ruler affected the two suspended tapes as it did? Due to a negative charge.