Charging by friction and electrostatic phenomena

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Question 27
Medium

This question is about electrostatic charges and the forces between charged objects.

A diagram showing the apparatus available for the experiment: two Perspex rods, two ebonite rods, a piece of dry cotton cloth, a piece of woollen cloth, and a digital coulombmeter with a metal sensor plate. On the right, a laboratory clamp stand supports a lightweight, low-friction insulating cradle suspended by a thin nylon thread, which allows any rod placed inside it to rotate freely in the horizontal plane.

When rubbed with dry cotton, a Perspex rod becomes positively charged. When rubbed with wool, an ebonite rod becomes negatively charged. A digital coulombmeter can be used to measure the magnitude and sign of the charge.

Explain how you would use this apparatus to show that like charges repel and unlike charges attract.

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Charging by friction and electrostatic phenomena Questions

  1. GCSE
  2. /Physics
  3. /Charging by friction and electrostatic phenomena