6A- Physics Mr.

Gooden
Electrostatics:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Differentiate between charging by friction and charging by induction

What is an electroscope? Explain how it works?
Describe two hazards and applications of static electricity.
Draw and describe I-V graph characteristics for:
a. Ohmic device
b. Diode
c. Filament lamp
d. thermistor

Types of Charging with Examples

Types of Charging
Charging means gaining or losing electron. Matters can be charged with three ways, charging
by friction, charging by contact and charging by induction.
Charging by Friction
When you rub one material to another, they are charged by friction. Material losing electron is
positively charged and material gaining electron is negatively charged. Amount of gained and
lost electron is equal to each other. In other words, we can say that charges of the system are
conserved. When you rub glass rod to a silk, glass lose electron and positively charged and
silk gain electron and negatively charged.

Charging by Induction
We can also charge conductors without contact. Examine the given picture, it shows this type
of charging.

A and B
conductors are
neutral at the
beginning. When
we put a
positively
charged plate
near them, it
attracts the electrons in the conductors. Electrons move to the left part and protons stays.
Thus, when we separate plates A and B they are charged by induction, A is negatively charged
and B is negatively charged. Be careful, there is no contact, they are charged only by
induction.

Basic Theory of Electrostatics - Today's Accepted Model

Matter is composed of protons, neutrons and electrons. In solids, protons and neutrons can't move and
electrons might be able to move. In materials called conductors (metals), there are electrons that are free
to move around. In materials called insulators (glass, wood, plastic), electrons can't move freely, rather
they usually can only redistribute themselves within the molecules they are in (charge polarization remember from chemistry?).
There are two electric charges. They are called positive and negative. The protons are positive and the
electrons are negative.
The rules that govern the behaviors are:
- Like charges repel.
- Opposite charges attract.
- Only the negatives (elelctrons) move in solid conductors.
- In a neutral object there are equal numbers of positives and negatives. (Note: charge is a conserved
quantity, so we can't create new charge in an interaction, just move some around.)
III. Charging by Friction
We charge the lucite by rubbing it with fur (or taffeta). When the two are rubbed together, electrons are
ripped from the lucite and depositied on the fur. This makes the lucite positively charged and the fur
becomes equally negatively charged. PVC when rubbed with flannel takes electrons from the flannel to
become negatively charged.
IV. Charging by Induction
When an object is charged by induction, it acquires an opposite charge to that of the charging object.
Example: Charge sphere A by induction.

Frame 1:

two conducting neutral spheres.

Frame 2:
The negative PVC forces the electrons (also neg.) into sphere B (since the spheres are conductors, some
of the electrons are free to move).

Frame 3:
In the presence of the PVC, the spheres are separated. This leaves the sphere A positively charged. The
rod can then be removed. Sphere A is charged opposite to the charging object (PVC). Note: Sphere B can
be any conductor like your finger or a wire that has been grounded.
Here is an animation showing the process of charging by induction:

What is Static Electricity?

Static electricity is generated when any material gains or loses electrons and becomes
positively (when it loses electrons) or negatively charged (when it gains electrons). The
acumulated charges are whats called static electricity.
It is called static because the charges do not move from where they where generated, unlike the
electricity used to power electronic devices that flows from one pole of a battery or power
source to the other. Most of the time it is produced when two objects come in contact or are
rubbed together.
For a static charge to remain in an object, it must have a high resistance to the flow of electricity.
That is why plastic balloons and hair remain charged, they are poor electric conductors. Other

materials like aluminum can get a static charge, but it will dissipate very quickly because of its
low resistance to the flow of electrons.
Images: Uses of Static Charges
Click thumbnail to view full-size

Static charges are used to remove dust and other pollutants in smokestacks
Practical Uses of Static Charges
The ability of opposite charges in static electricity is what's used when designing applications for
it.

Dust removal: There are some appliances that can eliminate dust from the air, like air
purifiers. They use static electricity to alter the charges in the dust particles so that they
stick to a plate or filter of the purifier that has an opposite charge as that of the dust
(opposite charges attract each other).
This effect is also used in industrial smokestacks to reduce the pollution that they generate,
altough they work in a very large scale, the effect is basically the same as the home air
purifier.

Photocopy: Copy machines use static to make ink get attracted to the areas where we
need the information copied. It uses the charges to apply the ink only in the areas where
the paper to be copied is darker (usually this means text or other information) and not
where the paper is white, this process is called xerography.

Car painting: To make sure a car's paint is uniform and that it will resist the high speeds
and weather to protect the car's metal interior, it is applied with a static charge. The metal
body of the car is submerged in a substance that charges it positively, and the paint is
charged negatively with the paint sprayer.
This process ensures a uniform layer of paint, since when there is enough negative paint in
the car the extra will be repelled by the paint already in the car.
It also ensures that the paint won't fall off, since the electrical attraction between the paint
and the car is stronger than if it was just sprayed.

All of these processes use electronic circuits to generate and control the static charges
generated. If you are interested in electricity and electronics, check out my electronic circuits for
beginners site, where you will find simple circuits to get you started, When you have learned
enough you can build your own practical static electricity circuits for your own use!

Even though lightning has a lot of energy, it can't be efficiently used or stored
Power from Static Electricity?

Current Voltage Characteristics

A resistor at constant temperature (ohmic conductor)

Current is directly proportional to potential difference. Doubling the potential difference
doubles the current in the circuit. The resistance remains the same. Plotting a graph of potential
difference against current gives a straight line passing through the origin (0,0).

Ohms Law
The electrical current in a conductor is proportional to the potential difference
applied to it provided the temperature remains the same.

V = IR
Potential difference =
(V, volts V)

current

(I, amps A)

Measuring current and potential difference

resistance
(R, ohms )

Current is measure with an ammeter, ammeters are always connected in series with the
component of interest.
Potential differences are measured using a voltmeter, voltmeters are connected in parallel with
the component of interest.
By measuring the current and potential difference you can calculate the resistance.

A Filament Lamp
Here the graph curves because as the filament heats its resistance goes up (the resistance of the
filament is changing).

A diode
A diode only allows current to flow in one direction through it (forward biased), when the
current tries to flow the other way (reverse biased) no current is allowed to flow through the
diode.

When the diode is reversed biased if we keep increasing the potential difference the diode will
eventually begin to conduct in the reverse direction, this is called the break down voltage.

Thermistor
The resistance of a thermistor decreases as its temperature increases.
Thermistors can be used as thermostats, the thermistor is used in circuits which monitor and
control the temperature of rooms, freezers & fridges etc.

Thermistors can have a positive or a negative temperature coefficient. A negative

temperature coefficient means that its resistance decreases with an increase in temperature, this
is caused by the release of extra charge carriers in the thermistor.

LDR Light Dependant Resistor

The resistance of an LDR decreases as the light intensity falling on it increases.
LDRs are used in circuits which automatically switch on lights when it gets dark, for example
street lighting.