TOPIC: ELECTRIC CHARGES→ Production, Types, Distribution and Storage
CONTENT
✓ Production of Charges
✓ Types of Charges
✓ Distribution of Charges
✓ Storage of Charges
❖ Production of Charges
If a plastic pen is rub vigorously on the hair or on a coat and it is hold near a very small
piece of paper, the paper will be attracted by the pen. Some substances are found to poses
the ability to attract light objects once they are rubbed. The light object as well as the
rubbed material are said to be charged or electrified with static electricity.
Electrostatics is the study of charges at rest. It is a type of electricity that does not move from
one point to another in the substance in which it is produced.
❖ Types of Charges
There are two types of charges – positive and negative charges.
Positive charge is obtained when a glass rod is rubbed with silk, or cellulose acetate
with silk, while negative charge is obtained when an ebonite rod is rubbed with fur or
polythene with fur.
These two rods with positive and negative electrification attract each other when brought
close. Repulsion occurs if two similar rods are brought close.
FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF ELECTROSTATICS
The law states that like charges repel, unlike charges attract.
CONDUCTORS AND INSULATORS
Conductors are materials that allow electrons to pass through them easily. Examples of
conductors are metals, damp air, graphite, acids, salt solutions, the earth, and the human
body.
Insulators are materials that do not allow electrons to pass through them easily. Examples
of insulators are plastic, polythene, Bakelite, ebonite, paper, dry hair, silk, oils, glass, sulphur
and wood.
❖ Distribution of Charges
Experimental works have shown that charges are distributed where there is a sharp curve.
The densities of these charges are greater at the surface of sharp curve. The charge per unit
area of a charged surface is called surface density.
x x x x x x x
x x
x
x x
x
x x
x
x x
x
x x x x x x x x x
Fig. 2.3 Charge Distribution is greater at the edge (sharp edge)
❖ Storage of Charges
The electrophorus is a device for transferring and storing charges. It produces electric
charges by electrostatic induction. Another device for the storage of electric charges is the
capacitor
Gold Leaf Electroscope
The gold-leaf electroscope is an instrument used for testing positive and negative charges.
It consists of a metal (brass) rod to which a thin gold-leaf (or aluminium leaf) is attached.
The rod is surmounted by a brass disc or cap and insulated from the metal case. The leaf is
protected from outside influences (like drought) by enclosing it in an earthed metal case
with glass windows.
Generally, the gold-leaf can also be used to test the conducting properties of materials.
Brass Cap
Insulator
Brass rod
Brass plate Gold leaf
Earth
Fig. 2.1 Gold-leaf electroscope
Uses of Electroscope
1. It is used to test whether a material is a conductor or an insulator. The material is
made to touch the cap. Rapid collapse means that the charges escape easily and hence
the material concerned is a good conductor. A slow collapse means that it is a poor
conductor. No collapse means that it is an insulator.
2. Use to test charges whether the charge is positive or negative. The gold leave
electroscope to test the sign of the charge of an object. If an unknown charge is
brought near to a charged electroscope and the leaf diverges more, the unknown
charge is similar to the charge on the electroscope.
CHARGING AN INSULATED BODY
A neutral insulated body can be charged by two methods
i) Contact method and
ii) By induction
1. Contact Method: - The method is achieved by bringing a charged object in contact
with it. By so doing the neutral insulated body acquired the same type of charge as
that on the charged object.
2. Induction Method: - This method is simply a process of charging a neutral body by
placing a charged body near it without any contact between the two.
This process is as explained in the following steps below:
i) Bring a positive charge close to an insulated body to be charged. (Note: insulation as
used here is by placing body on an insulated stand to avoid the charge induced from
leaking away). Negative charges on insulated body are attracted towards the inducing
charge while the positive charges are repelled away from it.
ii) Earth the insulated body by momentarily touching it so that the positive charge
conducts away
x x x x
-x -x
(ii) - --- + +
+ - ----
(i) Insulator
- --- -- ----
Earth
(iii) Insulator
Fig. 2.2 charging by induction
iii) Remove inducing charge: From observation, the negative charge will spread round
leaving the body is a negatively charged body. If the inducing charge is negative, then
the body will acquire a negative charge after taking the steps above.
❖ Lighting and Lighting Conductor
The atmosphere is known to contain ions or charged particles, which have been
produced by radiation from the sun and by what is known as cosmic radiation, which enters
the atmosphere from outer space.
Lighting is a sudden discharge or neutralizing of electric charges, and it occurs when
charges build up in a cloud.
The lighting conductors are long metal strips running from the spike end of a conductor on
the top of a building. They are used to prevent building from destruction when struck by
thunder or lightning. The conductor is a long metal rod installed or connected to the earth
by means of a cable. The sharp outer point of the top gains an induced charge opposite to
that in the thundercloud. The charge ionizes the nearby air and the charged air molecules
flow upwards from the point. This discharges the cloud before a lightning flash occurs.
