Lab Report

Title: Lichtenberg Figure Date: Jun 16th, 2022

Students’ name: León Avalos, Fátima Mayeli

Arévalo Hernández, Marilyn Natalia

Instructor’s name: Osorio Cruz Claudia Elizabeth

Objective / Purpose / Aim

Reveal the nature of positive and negative electrical fluids.

Introduction
In the experiment you will see a clear example of how nature can be beautiful and dangerous at the same time,
since the Lichtenberg figures are branched structures formed by an electric discharge. These shapes are created
when an insulating matter is subjected to a large electrical discharge, causing the electricity to create a shape
and can be observed and studied, just as Georg Christoph Lichtenberg did, who initially discovered and studied
them. With these figures it is possible to study the nature of positive and negative electric fluids, since at the
moment of the electric discharge it will form the figure containing negative and positive charges in it, using
the law of action and reaction, at the moment of realization of said experiment.

Equipment and Materials / Materials and Reagents

Materials that were made a homemade electricity generator.
• 2 old cd's • Insulating tape.
• 1 stick of pike. • 1 metal nail
• 8 popsicle sticks. • 1 had PVC.de 3 x 6M
• 1 piece of wood 14cm long • Hammer.
and 10cm wide. • Cardboard.
• 1 small engine. • Scissors.
• 1 large rubber band. • Hot silicon.
Materials that made the Lichtenberg figure.
• 2mm glass acrylic sheet 1.22m x 2.44m.
• 4 pieces of wood of 6mm 1.27m x 2.44m.
• Glue for wood.
Procedure
Process that made a homemade electricity generator.
A circle smaller than the CD was drawn on the cardboard, cut out and glued with hot silicone to the inside of
the CD, as centered as possible. In the part of the free cardboard, the inner face of the other CD was glued to
close. It was pressed so that the piece of cardboard would stick better with the CDs.
With the skewer stick, the center of the CDs was pierced along with the cardboard, hot silicone was applied to
fix the stick. When it was dry, the excess of the toothpick was cut and approximately 2.5 cm of the toothpick
was left on each side.
By having the piece of CDs and the toothpick together, a rubber band was placed in the middle of the two CDs,
so that the rubber band would be on top of the cardboard wheel.
Next, four popsicle sticks were glued with silicone (two and two), to have two supports. When they were dry
they were perforated in the upper part, and in the lower part half of a triangle was glued as a support, which
was drawn on another popsicle stick.
Once the two supports were ready, they were placed on the sides of the disk.
Then the supports with the disk were glued to the wood that measured 14cm long by 10cm wide.
Once the piece of supports and CD was glued, with a popsicle stick it was measured from the edge of the disk,
and the motor was glued to the wood with hot silicone.
The rubber band that was in the middle of the CDs was pulled and made to reach the axis of rotation of the
motor.
With another popsicle stick, a crank was created and glued to the left side of the cd.
The wires connected to the motor were attached with electrical tape to the nail.
The PVC had been placed vertically, and the nail with the keys was placed on the bottom wall, and it was stuck
with insulating tape.

Process for creating a Lichtenberg figure.

One of the pieces of wood was perforated in the center.
With the four pieces of wood, a frame was formed by gluing the sides with the wood glue.
Inside the frame, the 6mm 1.22m x 2.44m crystal acrylic sheet was placed.
The electricity generator was put to work, quickly turning the crank.
Through the movement of the generator, the nail was placed inside the perforation of the piece of wood.
With the tip of the nail, the acrylic crystal sheet was touched and, giving a slight blow with the hammer, the
Lichtenberg figure was formed, because the hammer exerted a force on the nail, and the nail had the necessary
electricity to make the figure will form.
Conclution.
Instruments are needed to make or see the reaction of such an experiment, since it is convenient to define and
observe the points of electricity. Lichtenberg figures are images that produce a branching tree, and this is
applied in everyday life, such as radiography, x-rays, among others. As can be seen from the experiment, an
induction of electricity (electricity generator) is used so that the voltage of electricity is formed on the surface
of an insulator.

Appendix