Exploring Static Electricity: Build an Electroscope in Lab 2
School
University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
STAT 400
Subject
Chemistry
Date
Dec 11, 2024
Pages
17
Uploaded by CommodoreGoosePerson594
Welcome to Lab 2!•Please sit with your group from last week•Make a name tag with your preferred name using a piece of paper folded into a tent shape•Open Lab 2 materials from the Announcements panel in Smart Physics on your laptop or tablet. v1.1
How Today’s Lab Is Structured:Introduction to Lab 2Lab activity part 1Recap part 1,motivate Part 2Finish Work on Lab & Report 10-15minutes10 minutes10minutesUp to 80minutesTATA
Todays Activities: OverviewPart 1: Choose triboelectric materials and build an electroscope•We’ll get started as a class, then check in to motivate Part 2Part 2: Static electric shocks forever?!•As a whole class we will make an observation of a situation where you can create multiple static electric shocks. You will do a claim-testing experiment to explore this situation further.Your group will write a lab report describing your findings.
Part 1a: Materials that create and hold chargeDoes it hold a charge? A spark testAluminum plateInsulating handleMaterial you are testing1.Charge the material you will test2.Holding the insulating handle, bring the aluminum plate very close (a couple mm) to the test material3.With a different hand, touch the side of the aluminum plateIf you get a shock during step 3, you have a good “charge holding” material for this experiment.
Part 1b: Build an electroscopePinch the foil and cut a small triangle to make the holeYou should cut two small pieces of foil (rectangles or trapezoids) with small holes so they can hang freely from the paperclip.An electroscope uses two small foil pieces to indicate the presence of an electric charge.
In the next ten minutes…❑Choose materials that allow you to build and store a charge❑Build your electroscope and test it with your charge-holding materialAluminum plateInsulating handleMaterial you are testing
Talk with your group and take notes about…What happens when you bring a charged object close to the electroscope? When you touch the object to the electroscope?What materials seem to work well? Why did you choose your specific pair of materials?What, specifically, do you think the electroscope tells you is happening?
Take ten minutes to start…❑Choose materials that allow you to build and store a charge❑Build your electroscope and test it with your charge-holding materialAluminum plateInsulating handleMaterial you are testing
Now that we have our materials and sensor set up, let’s shift our focus to the aluminum plate
Starting Part 2: An observationAluminum plateInsulating handleCharge-holding materialAluminum plateInsulating handleYou get a shock when you touch the aluminum plate hereAfter removing the material you get another shockYou can keep going back and forth…Try it for yourself
Part 2: Investigating the infinite shocksUsing the materials and electroscope from Part 1, design and do an experiment that tests the following claim:Every time the aluminum plate gives you a shock the plate ends up with a neutral charge.Even if you believe you already know the answer, the point of this lab is to figure out a way to use the tools available to you to find what is happening here.
•Collecting data and showing it clearly with tables, graphs, and/or pictures•Identifying interesting things that happen in your experiment and trying to make sense of them: Is it an error or a discovery?•Clearly communicating what you did and what you found in your experiment.•Making conclusions about results that are based on evidence from your own experiment.•These skills align with the practices of expert researchers•There is a sample report provided with the Lab 2 materials.Reminder: We care about the experimental process, not about obtaining perfect results
Lab 2 RubricThree parts this week:[40 points] Scientific Content[20 points] Conciseness[40 points] Report StructureDetails are in the Rubric document
Lab 2 ReportThis week, the report will be quite short but have some tight guidelines. You will be writing a summary describing your experiment.Learning Objectives•Learn the outline of a scientific paper and more specifically an abstract•Practice concisenessSummary Structure1st-2nd sentenceis the background and topic question.3rd sentenceis the methods.4th-5th sentencesare the results.6th sentenceis the conclusion.More information is in the Lab Activity Document, Lab 2 Rubric, and Sample Report
An example from this week’s rubric:Note this week your report doesn’t have to be perfect to get full points.This is so we can give you feedback without you worrying about the grade.
When you are finished,Clean up your table, upload your PDF lab report and then you can leaveWe will be reusing most of these materials through the week so please disassemble your electroscope and return the materials when you are finished with the lab
Checklist for Today❑Task 1: Build and test your equipment❑Choose triboelectric materials that work well with the electroscope❑Build your electroscope, document with pictures or drawings❑Task 2: Investigating the endless shocks❑Design and do your experiment❑Document your observations with pictures or drawings❑Write your report❑Check rubric to make sure you include all components!❑[Only one group member] Upload the report to turn it in