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PIRA Class: 5B10.35
Purpose:
Demonstrate repeated charge transfer and grounding.
Description:
Two parallel metal plates are connected to the Van de Graaff generator so that they are charged oppositely. This is done by taping one end of a wire to the sphere of the generator and clipping the other end to one plate, and connecting the other plate to the grounding connection on the Van de Graaff with another wire.
Attach a graphite-coated ping pong ball to a string and hang it from a ring stand so that the ball is touching one of the metal plates.
The ball will pick up charge from one plate and then accelerate toward the other (oppositely charged) plate. Upon touching the other plate, the ping pong ball will transfer its charge and be attracted back towards the first plate. The cycle will continue until the generator is turned off, at which point the ping pong ball will slowly transfer charge between the plates, bouncing several more times, until the plates are neutral.
Equipment:
Coated ball from Pith Balls kit, large variable separation capacitor, Van de Graaff generator, ring stand
Location:
Shelf 315, 313, 352, 153
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