Electrostatics And Electroscope Flashcards

1
Q

Why are living creatures good conductors?

A

They have a lot of water in their bodies and water is a good conductor
The nervous is system is designed to conduct electrical signals

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2
Q

What are the two groups of materials?

A

Insulators and conductors

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3
Q

What are insulators?

A

They are not very good at conducting a charge

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4
Q

What are conductors?

A

They allow electrons to flow

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5
Q

What are examples of insulators?

A

Wool

Plastic

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6
Q

What are examples of conductors?

A
Iron
Silicon
Alloys
Sand
Copper 
Gold
Silver
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7
Q

What are the two types of conductors?

A

Good

Poor

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8
Q

What are poor conductors?

A

They do not conduct electrons well

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9
Q

What are good conductors?

A

They do conduct electrons well

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10
Q

What are examples of poor conductors?

A

Iron
Silicon
Alloys
Soft, thick sand

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11
Q

What are examples of good conductors?

A

Hard sand
Copper
Silver
Gold

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12
Q

Which material can become electrostatic?

A

Insulators

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13
Q

Why are insulators the only material that can become electrostatic?

A

Because friction causes electrons to flow
When they fall on conductors, they flow right through
When they fall on insulators, they build up, causing a negative charge to build up

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14
Q

Why can electrons affect the electroscope?

A

The metal disc, the rod and the gold leaf are all conductors

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15
Q

How do you draw an electroscope?

A

A capital T that is five to six lines big

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16
Q

What does polarised mean?

A

When a single object has a negative charge on the one side and a positive charge on the other side, but the overall charge is still neutral

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17
Q

Why does gold leaf in an electroscope rise when a positive charge is brought near?

A

Once the electroscope has become polarised, the positive charge in the rod will repel the gold leaf

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18
Q

What is the process of “polarising” called?

A

Induction

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19
Q

What is conduction?

A

Charging an object through contact

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20
Q

Why does the gold leaf lift up when a negative charge is brought near to it?

A

The rod and the gold leaf become negatively charged, so the leaf is repelled

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21
Q

How does an electroscope become charged?

A

When a charged object is brought into CONTACT with a neutral electroscope, the electrons will jump through the metal disc. The electroscope now has a charge.

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22
Q

Can an electroscope become charged negatively and positively?

A

Yes, it can work both ways

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23
Q

How do insulators build up an electrostatic charge?

A

Through friction

23
Q

Which subatomic particles can move?

A

Electrons

24
Q

Can protons move?

A

No, of course not

25
Q

How does an insulator gain a positive charge?

A

It has to lose electrons

26
Q

How does an insulator become negatively charged?

A

It needs to gain electrons

27
Q

How can an object exert an electrostatic force?

A

It must become charged

28
Q

What kind of force static is electricity?

A

Field

29
Q

What kind of force will two objects with like charges exert on one another?

A

Repulsion

30
Q

What kind of force will two objects with unlike charges exert on each other?

A

Attraction

31
Q

What kind of force exists between an uncharged object and a charged object?

A

Attraction

32
Q

Why will an uncharged object attract a charged object?

A

When the charged object is brought near to the uncharged object, it will either attract/repel those electrons
The uncharged object has now gained a charge, which will be opposite to the original charged object
These are unlike charges so they will attract

33
Q

What is the function of an electroscope?

A

To tell whether an object is charged

To tell what type of charge it carries

34
Q

What are the parts of an electroscope?

A
Metal disk
Insulator
Gold leaf
Metal rod
Glass
Metal box
35
Q

What is the metal disk for?

A

To transmit the charge

36
Q

What is the insulator for?

A

To ensure that the charge goes directly to the gold leaf

37
Q

What is the gold leaf for?

A

It is a good conductor
It is free to move
It will clearly be affected by the charge

38
Q

What is the metal rod for?

A

To conduct the charge from the disk to the gold leaf

39
Q

What is the glass for?

A

To prevent the leaf from discharging

To allow the viewer to see the gold leaf

40
Q

What is the metal box for?

A

To hold the electroscope

41
Q

What happens when a charged object is brought near to an electroscope?

A

The charge will travel through the disk, through the metal rod to the gold leaf
The gold leaf and the metal rod will repel each other
The gold leaf will lift up

42
Q

How does the gold show a stronger charge?

A

It will lift higher

43
Q

What will happen to an electroscope when a positive object is NEAR?

A

The electrons in the base of the electroscope will be attracted to the object
They will move up the rod toward the object
The gold is now positive
The disk is now negative
The metal rod is now positive
The gold leaf will be repelled by the metal rod
It will rise
When the object is removed, the leaf will fall back down

44
Q

How do we know the electroscope is neutral?

A

The gold leaf will be hanging down

45
Q

What will happen to an electroscope when a negative object is NEAR?

A

The electrons in the metal disk will be repelled
They will move down to the rod and leaf
The disk is now positive
The leaf and rod are negative
They will repel one another
The gold will lift up
When the object is removed, the gold leaf will fall back down

46
Q

What is important to remember when drawing a polarised electroscope?

A

The entire electroscope is still neutral
Use vectors to show the movement of electrons
Use vectors to show the movement of the gold leaf

47
Q

What will happen to an electroscope when a positive object makes CONTACT?

A

The electrons in the electroscope will jump to the object
The electroscope now has an overall positive charge
The metal rod and the leaf will repel one another
The leaf will lift up
When the object is removed the leaf will still stay up

48
Q

What will happen to an electroscope when a negative object makes CONTACT?

A

The electrons in the object will jump to the electroscope
The electroscope now has an overall negative charge
The metal rod and the leaf will repel one another
The leaf will lift up
When the object is removed the leaf will still stay up

49
Q

Why are the components of an electroscope made of metal?

A

So that electrons can flow easily

50
Q

What is earthing?

A

The process whereby surplus charges can be removed from an object

51
Q

How can earthing occur?

A

When a charged object makes contact with a greater object, like the Earth

52
Q

How does earthing work?

A

The Earth is big enough to give or take charges without becoming charged, thereby neutralising the object

53
Q

What does the symbol for Earth look like?

A

An upside down T with two smaller lines beneath it

54
Q

What happens when an object is not big enough to “earth” a charged object?

A

There will be a division of charges

55
Q

Where does a division of charges occur?

A

Between two identical objects

56
Q

What is a division of charges between two identical objects?

A

When two identical objects touch, they will each try to neutralise each other
If they are not big enough, then there will still be an imbalance of charges
However, the electrons will have divided evenly between the two objects, giving them the exact same charge