Science 265 Fun With Tape! Challenge At The End

science 265 fun with tape! challenge at the end of this lab you are to answer the question that follows. please keep it in mind as

Science 265
Fun with Tape!
Challenge
At the end of this lab you are to answer the question that follows.
Please keep it in mind as you explore static electricity today and
test it out when you get home.
The question: Is a thin stream of water charged? If so, what is its
charge? Plan a procedure you could perform to find out.
Homework: Everyone must perform the investigation you come up with to
answer the question. Write up your procedure, data and conclusion in a
way that a fellow classmate who missed lab could understand. Bring
this to class on Wednesday.
Investigate
Press a piece of tape (about 15 – 20 cm) firmly on a smooth unpainted
surface. Peel the tape off quickly. Describe the behavior of the tape
as you bring objects toward it (e.g. a hand, a pen).
Make another piece of tape as described above. Bring the second piece
of tape toward the first. Describe your observations.
How does the distance between the tapes affect the interaction between
them?
Each member of your group should press tape onto the surface and write
a “B” (for bottom) on it. Then press another tape on top of each B
tape and write “T” (for top) on it. Slowly pull each pair of tapes off
the table as a unit. After they are off the table, separate the T and
B tapes quickly.
Describe the interactions between the following when they are brought
near one another.
- two T tapes
- two B tapes
- a T and a B tape
- a T tape and a little bit of paper (5 mm on a side or smaller –
similar to the hole for a three ring binder)
- a B tape and a little bit of paper
- two small bits a of paper
Things that are electrically charged attract the little bits of paper.
The T tape and the B tape are both charged and the bits of paper are
considered neutral.
Describe a procedure that you could use to determine if an unknown
object is charged or neutral.
Is neutral a type of charge? Explain?
Rub a plastic plumbing pipe (PVC) with a paper towel and then hold the
pipe near newly made T and B tapes. Determine whether the pipe is
charged or neutral. If it is charged, determine if it is charged T or
charged B. Explain specifically how you know.
Visual Model
Open the PhET simulation, Balloons and Static Electricity.
Phet.colorado.edu Play with the sim and then describe which features
of the sim (sweater, balloons or wall) that the T tape, B tape and
bits of paper behave most like. If it’s not possible to match the
items up exactly, explain why.
Draw a diagram of the “net” charge on a piece of T tape, B tape and
bit of paper.
Identifying charge
Obtain two flexible straws and stick each into its own small piece of
Play-Doh to form inverted “L”s. These will serve as holders for a
freshly made test strip of T tape and B tape.
T
This lab requires “finesse and care”
If you are careful and make sure your T and B tape always have a good
charge, the lab will go smoothly.

Obtain a variety of objects including those listed in the table below.
Try rubbing each of the objects with a paper towel. First bring the
object near hanging strip T then near hanging strip B and finally near
a small stack of torn up paper. There are spaces provided for you to
try some objects of your own. Record your observations in the table
below. Write attracted, repelled or neither.
Bits of paper T tape B tape
plastic plumbing pipe:
Plexiglas:
plastic silverware:
Wood tongue depressor:
glass test tube:
metal nail:
magnet:
Aluminum tube:
paper clip:
Which of the items did NOT give a definite indication that it had been
electrically charged as either T or B after it was rubbed with cloth?
Explain
Check with your instructor
Magnetism
The magnets that you are working with are very strong, but they are
brittle. Please be careful and do not break them!
Test them with each item to see which are attracted by the magnetic
force. If there is a very weak attraction, it’s probably not a
magnetic force that you are seeing since these are very strong
magnets.
Which items are strongly attracted by the magnet?
Did any of the items that are not strongly attracted surprise you?
Based on your observations, are magnets attracted to electrical
charge?
Check with your instructor
Positive and Negative Charges
The phenomenon you have just observed was first recorded by Thales of
Miletus nearly 2500 years ago in ancient Greece. He observed that
pieces of amber when rubbed with fur would attract feathers and dried
leaves. During the middle ages, it was noted that a glass rubbed with
silk or cotton would behave similarly. It remained just an interesting
phenomenon until about 1600 when Sir William Gilbert made the first
systematic study of the phenomenon. He called the phenomenon
'electricity' after 'electron', the Greek word for amber. In 1747,
Benjamin Franklin became America's first internationally known
scientist after publishing his studies on electricity. Besides flying
his kite in a thunderstorm, and inventing the lighting rod, Franklin
was the first to name the two types of electricity plus and minus.
After it had been rubbed with cloth, Franklin named the kind of
electricity found on glass 'plus' or 'positive' electricity. Even
though some of Franklin's original ideas of electricity have now been
replaced, people have continued calling the two types of electrical
charge 'plus' and 'minus' (positive and negative).
Use this information to determine the charge of your T tape and B
tape. Explain why.
Now that you’ve identified the charge of your T tape and B tape, draw
new diagrams indicating the net charge on each.
Check the above two questions with your instructor
Consider the fact that conductors have some “free electrons” that are
able to move easily throughout the metal. Draw a diagram of a metal
nail with a piece of T tape held near. Indicate the net charge on each
demonstrating why they attract.
Now determine the type of net electrical charge found on the objects
in the table above.
Charge (positive, negative or neutral)
plastic plumbing pipe:
Plexiglas:
plastic silverware:
wood:
glass test tube:
metal nail:
magnet:
aluminum tube:
Paper clip:
Check with your instructor
Charging Objects
Open the PhET sim John Travoltage. Explain what happens when John rubs
his foot on the carpet.
What do the blue spheres represent?
What happens when John touches the door knob after his foot has been
rubbed on the carpet multiple times?
Summary and applications:
Does an object have to have a net electrical charge to be attracted to
a net electrical charge? Give an example.
The question: Is a thin stream of water charged?
*
Discuss with your classmates what they found at home before class
today? Are the results consistent?
*
If you decided that it is charged, what is its charge?
*
What do you think is happening?
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