VanDeGraaffGenerator

Introduction

Haveyoueverseenthepeopleputtheirhandsonthemetalballandtheirhairstands

onitsendinsanelyandwonderedthereasonswhy?Theansweristhatthemachine,Vande

Graffgenerator,areresponsiblefortheactionofthehair.TheVandeGraffgeneratoris

firstlydevelopedbyRobertJ.VandeGraffin1929.Hewasinventingwithhelpfromhis

colleagueNicholasBurkewhilehewasaphysicistatPrincetonUniversity.Theideas

behindthatareanelectrostaticmachinethatgenerateshighvoltages,producingupto400,000

voltswithashortcircuitcurrentof20microamps.

OurobjectiveofthisexperimentistomakeaVandeGraaffgeneratorwithabout220

voltsandtodemonstratethetheoryofstaticelectricityandobservetheelectrostatic

behaviors.

Background

VandeGraffgeneratorisbasicallyanelectrostaticgeneratorthatisapplicablefor

makinghighpotentialdifferencesofnearlyaboutmillionvoltages.Itselectricityisatvery

highvoltage,however,theircurrentislow.Inthemoderntimes,thisgeneratorisasignificant

modelindemonstratingtheconceptofstaticelectricity.Staticelectricityisdefinedas

electromagneticphenomenathathappenwhentherearenomovingcharges.Putsimply,after

theelectronsaretransferredtothemetalsphereorthecan,theelectronsarereadytobe

transferredwhentherearesomethingincontactwith.

Theinspirationforthisprojectisthatwewanttofindoutthequestionsweare

wonderingsincewewereakid.Wearemotivatedtoknowthetruthswhatisthetheory

behindthismodel.
Description

Figure1:VanDeGraaffDemonstration

Materials

Modelstructure:

Cardboard Gluegun

Screw PVC

Functioning:

Canbottle Electricmotor

Rubberbelt Copperwires

Procedures

1. Buildthebasewithacardboard

2. CutaPVCandtherubberbeltin100mm.

3. Assemblythetoprollerandbottomrollerwithrubberbelt

4. CutPVCholesthatrollerscanfitinto

5. Connectmotorwiththecopperwiresatthebottomroller
 6. Putthecuttingcopperwiresneartherubberbeltforboththetoprollerandthebottom

roller

7. Attachwirefromtoprollertothesurfaceofcan

8. Turnonthemotor

Results

Accordingtotheexperiment,ourresultshowsthattheVanDeGraaffmodelis

workingeffectivelyasthepiecesofpaperarerepellingoutfromthesurfaceofthecan,it

meansthatthechargesaccumulatedonthecanssurfaceisenoughtogeneratetherepulsion

ofthesamecharges.Moreover,basedontheresults,therearesomepiecesofpaperthatstay

andattractonthecan'ssurface.Theoretically,papershavetwochargeswhicharepositive

andnegativethus,piecesofpaperthatattracttothecanhaveoppositechargesthatthecan

accumulatedtheyresultinattractingtowardseachothers.

Summary

VandeGraaffgeneratordemonstratesstaticelectricitybyusinghighvoltagesources

withlowcurrentlevels.Electricityisgeneratedthroughtheaccumulationofnegativeelectric

chargethataretransferredtothemetalspheretocreatehighelectricpotential.Consequently,

becausetheelectronsarecollectedonthesurfaceofthecan,itcanbeeasilyattracttedand

repelledanythingthatcomesincontact.Likewhenpiecesofpaperaresprinkledonthetopof

thecan,thepiecesofpaperwillberepelledastheycontainthesamecharge.However,there

arealsopiecesofpaperthatareattractedtothecanastheirchargesareattractingeachothers.

 Acknowledgement

ThankyoutoMr.ChairatPetchsunyaforadvising

References

[1]Zavisa,J.(2000,April1).HowVandeGraaffGeneratorsWork.RetrievedJune02,2016,

fromhttp://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/enginesequipment/vdg5.htm

[2]VandeGraaff.(n.d.).RetrievedJune02,2016,from

http://wonders.physics.wisc.edu/vandegraaff.htm

[3]Elert,G.(n.d.).VandeGraaffGenerators.RetrievedJune02,2016,from

http://hypertextbook.com/eworld/vdg.shtml

[4]Wolf,A.(n.d.).SimpleVandeGraaffGenerator.RetrievedJune02,2016,from

http://makezine.com/projects/make28/simplevandegraaffgenerator/