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Learning Objectives 2
Warm Up 2
Bibliography 15
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
Lesson 1.1
Methods of Electrostatic Charging
Introduction
Eating food is the primary process of how we can intake essential vitamins and minerals
that are important for different chemical processes in our bodies. Different elements make
up the food that we eat. Elements are made up of atoms, which are then composed of
three subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. Among these subatomic
particles, protons and electrons are charged. The interaction between charged particles
explains a lot of phenomena that take place in our everyday life. In this unit, we will be
focusing on electrically charged particles and their interactions. In this chapter, we begin
our study of electromagnetism by examining the nature of electric charge and how they
are transferred from one material to another.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 1
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
● State the law of conservation of the resulting attraction or
repulsion, in a system of charged
charge. insulators and conductors
(STEM_GP12EMIIIa-5).
Warm Up
Roll that Can 15 minutes
This activity introduces the nature of charges and how charges are transferred from
charged materials.
Materials
● air pump
● meter stick
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 2
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
● balloon
● empty tin can
Procedure
1. Inflate the balloon using an air pump.
2. Group yourselves with an equal number of members.
3. Position yourself with your group members at least three meters apart.
4. Rub the balloon to your hair. Then, use the balloon to move the tin can without
touching it. Once you reach the 3-m mark, give the balloon to your groupmate.
5. Continue until you reach the finish line.
6. The first group who finishes wins.
Guide Questions
1. What happens with the balloon as you rub it on your hair?
2. Will the tin can move if you did not rub it on your hair? Why or why not?
3. What do you think are the factors that can affect the strength of attraction between
the can and the balloon?
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 3
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
Benjamin Franklin used the notations positive and negative to describe charges. This
convention is still adopted until today.
In 1897, J.J. Thomson discovered the presence of electrons. Through a series of
experiments, it was found out that all electrons present in every atom have the same
charge. Rutherford’s experiment showed that atoms also contain protons that have an
opposite charge of an electron. By convention, the negative charge is assigned to the
electron while the positive charge is assigned to the proton. There are only two types of
charges, and materials can acquire these charges depending on the number of protons and
electrons present in them. Charges are measured in c
oulombs o
r C.
Interaction of Charges
Experiments show that positively charged objects are attracted to negatively charged
objects but repelled by any other positively charged object. Figure 1.1.1 summarized these
interactions.
Figure 1.1.1. The diagrams show the interaction of (a) opposite and (b) like charges.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 4
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
Figure 1.1.2. The diagram shows that there is an attractive interaction between a neutral
object and a charged object.
Conductors and Insulators
There are two types of materials based on the ability of the object to let electrons move
through it. Conductors are materials that permit the electric charge to move easily from
one region of the material to another. On the other hand, insulators are materials that do
not let this happen. It can be seen in Figure 1.1.3 that the presence of a charged rod does
not affect the arrangement of the charges in an insulator unlike in a conductor.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 5
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
Figure 1.1.3. The diagrams show the effect of a charged rod to an insulator (left) and a
conductor (right).
Methods of Charging
Structure of the Atom
To easily understand different methods of charging, it is vital to have a mental image of the
structure of atoms. Atoms are made up of three subatomic particles namely: electrons,
protons, and neutrons. The first two particles are negatively and positively charged,
respectively. Neutrons, on the other hand, are neutral.
The protons and neutrons are densely concentrated into
a very small point in the atom, making up the nucleus.
The number of protons determines the element’s atomic
number of the material. Thus, the number of protons is
the fingerprint of the materials. Electrons surround the
nucleus. To compare how small the nucleus is, consider
an atom to be a few kilometers across. At this enlarged
version, its nucleus would be only the size of a tennis ball,
and the electrons are several kilometers away from it, as
shown in Figure 1.1.4. Electrons can easily jump from
one material to another. Thus, electrons are the charge
carriers.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 6
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
Charging by Friction
Objects are usually electrically neutral or uncharged, but they may become electrically
charged when they are rubbed against another material. When one material is rubbed
against another, there is friction between them, and electrons may be transferred from one
material onto the other. The material that has gained electrons is now negatively charged,
and the material that lost electrons is positively charged. Examples of electrostatic
experiments can be seen in Figure 1.1.5.
Figure 1.1.5. Diagrams showing experiments in electrostatics. Recall that like charges repel
while opposite charges attract.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 7
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
A sample triboelectric series for select materials.
Charging by Conduction
Charging by conduction, also known as charging by contact, occurs when a charged object
is in contact with a neutral object. Figure 1.1.6 shows how an uncharged metal object can
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 8
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
be charged by a negatively charged conductor.
Figure 1.1.6. Charging by conduction between a charged and a neutral metal object.
Suppose that these two objects are placed on an insulating stand such that they can be
easily moved around without being affected by other objects around them. Separation of
charges in the neutral object occurs when these two objects are placed close to each other.
The electrons are repelled on the other side away from the negatively charged object. At this
point, no charges can be transferred since they are not in contact yet. Once the objects are
in contact with each other, some of the negative charges from the negatively charged object
will transfer to the uncharged metal object. When the process of charging by conduction is
complete, the initially uncharged object now has an excess negative charge. The initially
charged object is still negatively charged but has less excess negative charge than before.
Charging by Induction
Aside from charging by friction and by conduction, an object can also be charged if they are
not in contact. This method is called charging by induction. Figure 1.1.7 shows how
charging by induction occurs.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 9
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
Figure 1.1.7. The diagram shows the process of how to charge an initial neutral metal
sphere through induction.
The ball is a conductor because it allows the movement of the charges to take place. The
presence of the negative rod makes the positive charges to be induced in the side of the
sphere near the rod. The negative rod, on the other hand, tends to stay at the opposite side
of the rod since negative charges tend to repel each other. When a grounded wire is
connected to the sphere, negative charges go directly to Earth, leaving the positive charges
behind. As the ground is disconnected and the rod is removed, the sphere is left as
positively charged.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 10
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
These are called the “hot wire” and “neutral wire.” The “hot wire”
carries the normal voltage to the appliance. The “neutral wire”
carries the current returning to the appliance. For a three-pronged
plug, the round prong is a wire connected to the ground.
A three-pronged plug.
Conservation of Charge
In general, methods of charging follow a the law of conservation of charge. It states that
the algebraic sum of all the electric charges in any closed system is constant. For example,
when you rub a piece of plastic rod with fur, the rod becomes negatively charged, and the
fur becomes positively charged. The rod gains negative charge, and the fur acquires the
same magnitude of positive charge since it loses electrons. Hence the total electric charge
on the two bodies together does not change. In any charging process, the charge is not
created or destroyed; it is merely transferred from one body to another.
ey Points
K
___________________________________________________________________________________________
● There are two types of charges: p
ositive and negative.
● Changes in charges are brought by the movement of negatively charged
particles.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 11
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
● Forces between charges can be either repulsive or attractive. Like charges
attract and unlike charges repel.
● There are three methods of charging an object: charging by friction, charging by
conduction, and charging by induction.
○ Charging by friction can happen when you rub two objects with unequal
electron affinity. The object with higher electron affinity acquires the
negative charge, while the other object with lower electron affinity acquires
the positive charge.
○ Charging by conduction occurs when a charged object comes in contact
with a neutral object.
○ Charging by induction can happen due to induced charges. The charges in
a conducting object can be rearranged with the presence of an external
charged object.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
__________ 1. There are three types of charges: positive, negative, and neutral.
__________ 2. The only factor that affects the charge of objects when you rub them
is their electron affinity
__________ 3. Charges are not always conserved when you charge an object by
induction.
__________ 4. Protons are the charge carriers.
__________ 5. Conductors permit the movement of charges through it.
__________ 6. Charging by friction can take place even if two objects are not in
contact with each other.
__________ 7. In a neutral sphere, the number of positive charges is more than the
number of negative charges.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 12
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
B. Using the letters A to E, arrange the following steps in charging an
object through induction.
1.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 13
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
2.
Challenge Yourself
Answer the following questions.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 14
Unit 1: Electric Charge and Coulomb’s Law
A homemade electroscope.
4. Explain what neutral is. Why is it not considered as a third charge?
5. Why do lightning rods need to be grounded?
Bibliography
Freedman, Roger A. and Young, Hugh D. S
ears and Zemansky's University Physics with Modern
Physics (13th ed). USA: Pearson Education, 2012.
Homer, David and Bowen-Jones, Michael. P
hysics Oxford IB Diploma Programme. UK: Oxford
University Press, 2014.
Hewitt, Paul G. C
onceptual Physics (1
1th ed). N
ew York: Pearson Education, 2010.
Sang, David, Graham, Jones, et.al. Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics Coursebook.
UK: University Printing House, 2014.
Young, Hugh D., Roger A. Freedman, and A. Lewis Ford. Sears and Zemansky’s University
Physics with Modern Physics (13th ed). USA: Pearson Education, 2012.
1.1. Methods of Electrostatic Charging 15