EXPERIMENT

EQUIPOTENTIAL LINES
1. Purpose: To investigate the equipotential surfaces created by two oppositely charged
conductors and to map the electric field lines using these equipotential surfaces.

2. Pre-Lab Preparation:

2.1. Introduction:

Electric field is a useful concept derived from Coulomb's law. It can be defined almost
anywhere in space and is independent of other charges except the charge distribution that
creates the electric field itself. The value and direction of the electric field at a point depends
on the character of the charges creating it and its distance from the charge. The electric field
can also be used to explain the effects of charges on each other. A field is a quantity that can
be defined at every point within a given region of space. In this respect, the concept of force is
not very useful. For example, the force exerted by a point charge on another point charge can
only be calculated at the point where the second charge is located. Electric field is also a field
concept. The electric field created by a point charge can be calculated at every point in space
except where the charge itself is, so it is a more useful concept compared to force calculation.
In this experiment we will try to experimentally find the electric field lines between two
charged particles.

2.2. Theory, formulas, and topical information:

As is known, any charge distribution in space exerts a force on a test charge in space..
Since force is a vector quantity, the electric field is also a vector quantity. The electric field is
defined as the electric force acting on a positive test charge placed at that point divided by the
magnitude of the test charge:

→
→ F
E= (1)
q0

The SI units of force (𝐹⃗ ) and charge (q0) are the Newton (N) and Coulomb (C), respectively.
The electric field (𝐸⃗⃗ ) has the SI units, Newton per Coulomb, (N/C).

Figure 1. The direction of the electric field formed by a positive charge Q at a point A in
space.
 As shown in Fig. 1, the direction of the electric field at point A is in the direction of
the force acting on the positive test charge (q0) at point A. The electric field can be a difficult
concept to comprehend as it is not directly visible. Electric field lines help us visualize and
pictorially represent this field. An electric field line or curve is an imaginary line drawn in
space. The electric field vector is tangent to these lines at every point. These imaginary lines
must begin on positive charge distributions and terminate on the negative charge distributions,
or at infinity. Furthermore, the number of lines per unit area through a surface perpendicular
to the field lines is proportional to the magnitude of the electric field in that region. Electric
field lines for a positive point charge and two infinitely large oppositely charged parallel
conductor plates are shown in Figs. 2 (a) and (b), respectively. The equipotential surfaces
(lines) that correspond to the given charge distributions are also shown. An equipotential line
or surface is defined as the continuous distribution of points having the same electric
potential. As a rule electric field lines are always perpendicular to equipotential lines (or
surfaces). For example the surface of a horizontal table is an equipotential surface under the
influence of gravitational force, a particle will have the same potential at every point on the
surface of the table.

Figure 2. Electrical field lines and equipotential surface for (a) a positive point charge and (b)
two infinitely opposite charged parallel conductor plates.

For the positive point charge the field lines are radially outward and end at infinity if
there are no other negative charges. As they move away from the source, their density (the
number of field lines per unit perpendicular area) decreases. Equipotential surfaces are shown
as dotted lines in Fig. 2 (a) and (b). As can be seen in Figs. 2 (a) and (b), the equipotential
surfaces are always perpendicular to the electric field lines.

It usually occurs with a given charge distribution of electric field and there are many
points with the same potential. These points are known as equipotential points. If all points of
the same potential are combined, equipotential surfaces are obtained. Since all points on the
equipotential surfaces have the same potential, the work done to move any charge between
two points on these surfaces is zero. This indicates that the equipotential surfaces of a given
charge distribution are perpendicular to the electric field lines.
 Question 1: Why electric field lines do not cross each other? Explain.

Your Answer:

3. Necessary Tools and Equipment:

• Equipotential experiment set (conductive papers, cables. and crimping needles)

• DC Power Supply
• Voltmeter
• Graph Paper

4. Experimental Procedure:

In this experiment, we will find the equipotential points created by the oppositely
charged conductors and draw equipotential lines. The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 3.
We will connect the conductive rings to the power supply through metal pins placed on black
conductive paper. By touching the probes to the paper, we will find the potential difference
between any two points. If two points have the same potential, these points are defined as
equipotential points.

Figure 3. Schematic representation of the experimental setup.

1. Place the conductive paper with electrodes drawn on it and fix it with plastic pins.

2. Connect the electrodes to the DC power supply using the connecting cables. To do this,
place the end of the connecting cable on the conductive ring electrode, press the clamping
needle, respectively, through the cable end, electrode, and conductive paper and on the
cork table. Make sure the clamping needle holds the end of the cable and the electrode,
securely (as shown in Fig. 4).

Figure 4. The order of placement in the cork table with the compacting needle

3. Set the output voltage of the power supply to 5 V. When checking the rings for
complete conductivity, touch a probe of the voltmeter near the clamping needle on the
ring. Touch different points on the same ring with the other probe. If the ring is fully
charged, the potential difference between any two points on the ring will not exceed 1%
of the applied voltage between the electrodes.

4. Before starting the measurement, touch one probe of the voltmeter to one of the
electrodes clamping needles. This will be our electrode reference. By touching the other
probe of the voltmeter to the paper only at one point, you can measure the voltage at
that point on the paper.

5. First, specify three points on the x (y = 0) axis in the positive direction (F, E, D) as
shown in Fig. 3. Touch the negative end of the voltmeter probe to the reference point,
touch the other end to the first point you set (point F) and note the value you read on the
voltmeter. Lift the voltmeter probe from the reference electrode. Find four points where
the voltage value is zero by moving the free probe tip of the voltmeter between the F
point and the reference electrode on the surface. Write the coordinates of these points in
Table 1. Repeat the same procedure for the other two points (E and D) and note their
coordinates.

6. Place all the points you find for F, E and D reference points after drawing the coordinate
system on the graph paper. Mark the symmetrical points of the points you placed
according to the x plane and then the y plane.

7. Draw the equipotential curves by combining the equipotential points for each reference
point. Determine the electric field lines formed in the region between the rings, using
the fact that electric field lines should be perpendicular to their equipotential curves.
8. Repeat same processes for A, B and C reference points by determining the other
electrode as reference electrode. Compare results obtained for both electrodes.

9. Now we will examine how this affects a metal ring attached to the assembly. For this
purpose, place the black conductive paper with a conductive silver pen on it, using a
clamping needle on a cork table in a quarter of the x-y plane Is there a voltage
difference between any two points in the ring? Using probes, verify that the conductive
ring surface is indeed an equipotential surface.

COURSE NOTES
Results and Report

Experiment Name:

Department:

Name, Surname:

Student No:

Group No:

Experiment Date:

Report Delivery Time:

Table 1: The coordinates of the equipotential points with respect to the F, E and D reference
points.

VF = X0 = VE = X0 = VD = X0 =

X1 = Y1 = X1 = Y1 = X1 = Y1 =
X2 = Y2 = X2 = Y2 = X2 = Y2 =
X3 = Y3 = X3 = Y3 = X3 = Y3 =

X4 = Y4 = X4 = Y4 = X4 = Y4 =

Question 2: Briefly explain the differences in your measurements through carbon paper
with silver rings.

Answer: