TO ESTIMATE THE

CHARGE INDUCED ON
EACH OF THE TWO
IDENTICAL STRYO FOAM
(OR PITH) BALLS
SUSPENDED IN A
VERTICAL PLANE BY
 MAKING USE OF
COULOMB’S LAW
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 betweenelectric
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 = 9.0 ×
109 N · m2/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.

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.

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 wollen 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 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 F

The Weight of the ball

W=mg
The restoring force on each ball
sin θ
=mg

From the diagram in the right

In triangle ACB
x
sin θ
= 2l

Let the charge on each ball is

q1=q2=q
Then at equlilibrium
kq ×q
sin θ
mg = x2
 x kq2
=mg 2l = x2

mgx3
 g= 2lk

PROCEDURE:-

1) Weight the mass of each identical pitch balls by balance and

note down it.
2) Tie the balls with two silk or cotton threads and suspend at a
point on a stand or a rigid support. Measure the length of
threads by half meter scale. The length of threads should be
equal. Note down the length.
3) Rub the glass rod with silk cloth and touch with both balls
together so that the balls acquired equal charge.
4) Suspend the balls freely and the balls stay away a certain
distance between the balls when they become stationary.
Note down the distance.
5) Touch any one suspended ball with other uncharged third
ball and takes the third ball away and repeat the step 4.
6) Touch other suspended ball with other uncharged fourth ball
and takes the fourth ball away and repeat the step 4.
 OBSERVATION:-
1. Mass of each ball,(m) = 200g.
2. Radius of each ball,(r) = 0.2mm
3.lengthof each thread,(l) = 100cm.
S.NO CHARGE ON BALL CHARGE ON BALL DISTANCE BETWEEN
A B THE BALLS
q1 q2 (x cm)
( ) ( )

1.
0.0μC 0.0μC 0.4cm
2.
2.00μC 2.00μC 33.0cm
3.
2.00μC 2.00μC 26.2cm
4.
1.00μC 1.00μC 20.8cm
RESULTS:-
Here is the result:

The charges induced on the two identical Styrofoam balls can be

estimated using Coulomb's law. Based on the given data, the charges
on the balls are:

- Ball A: 0.00 µC, 2.00 µC, 2.00 µC, and 1.00 µC

- Ball B: 0.00 µC, 2.00 µC, 2.00 µC, and 2.00 µC

Using Coulomb's law, we can calculate the force between the balls
and then estimate the charges. The results show that the charges
on the balls vary, with some being equal and others differing by 1.00
µC. This indicates that the balls have induced charges, which can be
calculated using Coulomb's law.

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.

SOURCE OF ERROR:-
1. The balls may not be of equal size and mass.

2. The distance between the balls may be measured

accurately.