A laboratory technician slides a heavy polythene storage container across an insulating workbench in a cleanroom. The container becomes negatively charged because of the friction between its base and the workbench surface.
Explain why the friction causes the container to become charged.
A metal dome on top of the container is represented by the sphere in the diagram below. The metal dome is negatively charged. One arrow represents part of the electric field around the dome, pointing radially inwards.
Describe how to draw three more arrows on the figure to complete the electric field pattern.
The technician touches the negatively charged metal dome with a grounded metal discharging rod and a spark is observed.
Explain why.
The insulating workbench is replaced with a static-dissipative workbench containing a fine copper wire mesh. The polythene container is much less likely to accumulate a static charge when slid across this new surface.
Suggest why.
Static electricity (physics only) Questions
Practise AQA GCSE Physics Static electricity (physics only) with exam-style questions for Foundation and Higher tier. 18 questions covering Static charge and Electric fields, matched to the AQA GCSE Physics (8463) specification and written in Paper 1 and Paper 2 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.