Pre-Lab Questions: Experiment 2 – Electrostatics

1. A wand made of an unknown material attracts a positively charged sphere. One of your lab partners says
that the wand could have a negative charge since it is attracting the positively charged sphere. Your other
lab partner says that the wand could be neutral. Both of your lab partners are correct. Explain how this
is so.

2. Objects A and B are electrically neutral. After you rub them together, you find that object A has a positive
charge of +19 nC:
a. What can you say about the charge on object B? Explain how you know.

b. If you were to rub the 2 objects together more rapidly, what would happen to the quantity of charge
on object A? Explain how you know.

3. The humidity of your environment can affect electrostatic measurements, since water molecules are
dipolar. How can the humidity of your lab environment affect your experimentation today? What sort of
environment would be best to perform electrostatics experiments? Explain your answer.