ALWIN MEMORIAL PUBLIC SCHOOL

INDIRA NAGAR, SELAIYUR, CHENNAI – 600 073

(SESSION 2023-2024)

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

PROJECT FILE

NAME OF PROJECT

Estimation of Charge Induced on each of the two identical styro foam

balls suspended in a vertical plane by making use of Coulomb's law

SUBMITTED TO:

MRS. A.ANU (PGT PHYSICS)

SUBMITTED BY:

SHERVIN SHANE RAJ LOUIS RAJ

XII – B

ROLL NO:
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work is being presented in the project file
on the topic of “Estimation of Charge Induced on each of the two identical
styro foam balls suspended in a vertical plane by making use of Coulomb's
law” in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the subject of XII Class
Physics, is an authentic record of our own work carried out under the able
guidance of Mrs. A.Anu.

The work has been carried out at ALWIN MEMORIAL PUBLIC SCHOOL,
CHENNAI.

I here declare that above statement is correct to the best of my knowledge.

Shervin Shane Raj

XII - B
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Shervin Shane Raj student of XII Class of Alwin
Memorial Public School, Chennai have successfully completed their project
in the topic “Estimation of Charge Induced on each of the two identical
styro foam balls suspended in a vertical plane by making use of Coulomb's
law” in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the subject of XII Class,
Physics in the session 2023−24.

Mrs. A.Anu Mrs. D.V Lavanya

(PGT Physics) (Principal)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express our deep sense of gratitude to my respected and learned guide

Mrs.A.Anu, for their valuable help and guidance.

I am grateful to my respected Principal Mrs. D.V Lavanya for permitting me

to select this topic and utilize all the necessary facilities of the institution.

I am also thankful to all the faculty & staff members of our School for their
kind co−operation and help.

Lastly, I would like to express my deep appreciation towards my classmates

and my indebtedness to my parents for providing us the moral support and
encouragement.

Shervin Shane Raj

XII - B
 CONTENT

 Declaration
 Certificate
 Acknowledgement
 Objective
 Introduction
 Coulomb
 Coulomb's Law
 Electric Charge

 Experiment
 Aim
 Material Required
 Theory
 Procedure
 Observations
 Calculations
 Result
 Precautions
 Sources of Error

 Bibliography
 OBJECTIVE

To estimate the charge induced on each

of the two identical styro foam (or pith)
balls suspended in a vertical plane by
making use of Coulomb's law.
 INTRODUCTION

COULOMB

Coulomb graduated in November 1761 from École royale du génie de

Mézières. Over the next twenty years he was posted to a variety of locations
where he was involved in engineering - structural, fortifications, soil
mechanics, as well as other fields of engineering. His first posting was to Brest
but in February 1764 he was sent to Martinique, in the West Indies, where he
was put in charge of building the new Fort Bourbon and this task occupied him
until June 1772.

On his return to France, Coulomb was sent to Bouchain. However, he now

began to write important works on applied mechanics and he presented his
first work to the Académie des Sciences in Paris in 1773. In 1779 Coulomb
was sent to Rochefort to collaborate with the Marquis de Montalembert in
constructing a fort made entirely from wood near Ile d'Aix. During his period
at Rochefort, Coulomb carried on his research into mechanics, in particular

using the shipyards in Rochefort as laboratories for his

experiments.

Upon his return to France, with the rank of Captain, he was employed at La
Rochelle, the Isle of Aix and Cherbourg. He discovered an inverse relationship
of the force between electric charges and the square of its distance, later named
after him as Coulomb's law.
 COULOMB'S LAW

In 1785 Augustine de Coulomb investigated the attractive and repulsive forces

between charged objects, experimentally formulating what is now referred to as
Coulomb’s Law: “The magnitude of the electric force that a particle exerts on
another is directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between them.” Mathematically, this
electrostatic F acting on two charged particles (q1, q2) is expressed as:

where r is the separation distance between the objects and k is a constant of

proportionality, called the Coulomb constant, k = 9×109 Nm2/C2. This formula

gives us the magnitude of the force as well as direction by noting a positive force as
attractive and a negative force as repulsive. Noting that like charges repel each other
and opposite charges attracting each other, Coulomb measured the force between the
objects, small metal coated balls, by using a torsion balance similar to the balance
used to measure gravitational forces.
 ELECTRIC CHARGE

Historically the credit of discovery of the fact that amber rubbed with wool or silk
cloth attracts light objects goes to Thales of Miletus, Greece, around 600 BC. The
name electricity is coined from the Greek word elektron meaning amber. The
experiments on pith balls suggested that there are two kinds of electrification and
we find that (i) like charges repel and (ii) unlike charges attract each other. The
experiments also demonstrated that the charges are transferred from the rods to the
pith balls on contact. It is said that the pith balls are electrified or are charged by
contact. The property which differentiates the two kinds of charges is called the
polarity of charge.
 EXPERIMENT

AIM –
To estimate the charge induced on each of the two identical styro foam (or pith)
balls suspended in a vertical plane by making use of coulomb’s law.

MATERIALS REQUIRED -
 Small size identical balls (pitch or soft plastic)
 Physical balance or electronic balance
 Halfmeter Scale
 Cotton thread
 Stand
 Glass rod (or plastic rod)
 Silk cloth (or woolen cloth)
THEORY -
The fundamental concept in electrostatics is electrical charge. We are all
familiar with the fact that rubbing two materials together- for example, a
rubber comb on cat fur - produces a “static” charge. This process is called
charging by friction. Surprisingly, the exact physics of the process of charging
by friction is poorly understood. However, it is known that the making and
breaking of contact between the two materials transfers the charge.

The charged particles which make up the universe come in three kinds:
positive, negative, and neutral. Neutral particles do not interact with electrical
forces. Charged particles exert electrical and magnetic forces on one another,
but if the charges are stationary, the mutual force is very simple in form and is
given by Coulomb's Law:
where F is the electrical force between any two stationary charged particles with
charges q1 and q2(measured in coulombs), r is the separation between the charges

(measured in meters), and k is a constant of nature (equal to 9×109 Nm2/C2 in SI

units).
The study of the Coulomb forces among arrangements of stationary charged
particles is called electrostatics. Coulomb's Law describes three properties of the
electrical force:

1. The force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance

between the charges, and is directed along the straight line that
connects their centers.
2. The force is proportional to the product of the magnitude of the charges.
3. Two particles of the same charge exert a repulsive force on each other,
and two particles of opposite charge exert an attractive force on each
other.

Most of the common objects we deal with in the macroscopic (human-sized)

world are electrically neutral.
They are composed of atoms that consist of negatively charged electrons
moving in quantum motion around a positively charged nucleus. The total
negative charge of the electrons is normally exactly equal to the total
positive charge of the nuclei, so the atoms (and therefore the entire object)
have no net electrical charge. When we charge a material by friction, we are
transferring some of the electrons from one material to another.

Materials such as metals are conductors. Each metal atom contributes one
or two electrons that can move relatively freely through the material. A
conductor will carry an electrical current. Other materials such as glass
are insulators. Their electrons are bound tightly and cannot move. Charge

sticks on an insulator, but does not move freely through it.

A neutral particle is not affected by electrical forces. Nevertheless, a
charged object will attract a neutral macroscopic object by the process of A
neutral particle is not affected by electrical forces. Nevertheless, a charged
object will attract a electrical polarization. For example, if a negatively
charged rod is brought close to an isolated, neutral insulator, the electrons in the
atoms of the insulator will be pushed slightly away from the negative rod, and the
positive nuclei will be attracted slightly toward the negative rod. We say that the
rod has induced polarization in the insulator, but its net charge is still zero.

The polarization of charge in the insulator is small, but now it’s positive charge is
a bit closer to the negative rod, and its negative charge is a bit farther away. Thus,
the positive charge is attracted to the rod more strongly than the negative charge is
repelled, and there is an overall net attraction.

If the negative rod is brought near an isolated, neutral conductor, the conductor
will also be polarized. In the conductor, electrons are free to move through the
material, and some of them are repelled over to the opposite surface of the
conductor, leaving the surface near the negative rod with a net positive charge.
The conductor has been polarized, and will now be attracted to the charged rod.
Now if we connect a conducting wire or any other conducting material from the
polarized conductor to the ground, we provide a
“path” through which the electrons can move. Electrons will actually move along
this path to the ground. If the wire or path is subsequently disconnected, the
conductor as a whole is left with a net positive charge. The conductor has been
charged without actually being touched with the charged rod, and its charge is
opposite that of the rod. This procedure is called charging by induction.
Let the force between two stationary charges be :

The Weight of the ball :

W=mg
The Restoring force on each ball = mg sin θ
From the diagram in the triangle ACB:
x
sin θ = 2l

Let the charge on each ball is q1=q2=q

Then at equilibrium:
kq × q
sin mg θ=¿ 2
¿
x

x k q2
= mg 2l = x2
3

 q= mg x
2 lk
PROCEDURE –

Measure the mass (m) of each of the two identical pith balls using a physical
balance.

1. Hang the two balls from a rigid support using light silk or cotton threads of
same length “l”.
2. Rub the glass tod silk cloth to induce charge on it. Now touch the glass rod
with both the pith balls together so that equal charge is induced on both
the balls.
3. When left freely, the two balls will repel each other. Measure the distance
between the balls when are at rest. Note down the distance.
4. To change the charge on ball, take third uncharged ball touch it to any one
of the two balls and take the third ball away, and repeat step 4.
5. Take other uncharged suspended with other uncharged 4 th ball and take
the 4th ball away and repeat step 4.

OBSERVATIONS

Mass of the pith balls m = 2.5 gm.

Radius of the ball a = 0.2cm.

Length of thread l = 100 cm.

CALCULATIONS

By using the relation:

3
mg x
q=
2 lk

Calculate the charge in each case:

RESULTS:-

The charge on each ball = 2.5 C

PRECAUTIONS -

1. The suspended balls should not be touched by any conducting

body.
2. Rub the glass rod properly with the silk cloth to produce more charge.
3. Weight the mass of the balls accurately.

SOURCES OF ERROR -

1. The balls may not be of equal size and mass.

2. The distance between the balls may be measured accurately.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 http://www.ncert.nic.in
 https://www.wikipedia.org
 https://www.quora.com
 https://www.scribd.com