PHYSICS INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

TOPIC
ELECTROSCOPE

PREPARED BY

NAME : AARNAV TYAGI

CLASS : XII B

SESSION : 2024-25

BOARD ROLL NO :
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is a genuine pleasure to express my deep
sense of thanks and gratitude to my physics
teacher Mr. Manish Kumar Singh to provide me
the wonderful opportunity to do this delightful
project on the topic "Electroscope", which
helped me to link the textual knowledge to the
practical life issues and helped in doing a lot of
research. I am really grateful to Lab Assistant
Mr. Sarpal for resolving my doubts at the
earliest.

Lastly, I would like to convey my sincere

thank my parents, who provided constant
support and resources, my classmates and
friends for encouraging me to finalize this
project in the given time constraints.

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 INDEX
S.No. Content Page No.

1. Aim 4

2. Theory 5-6

3. Materials 7

4. Construction 8-10

5. Working 11-12

6. Observations 13

7. Conclusion 14

8. Applications 15

9. Advantages 16

10. Disadvantages 17

11. Bibliography 18

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 AIM
 The aim of the project is to understand the
application of basic laws of electrostatics.

 The practical application of charge

induction, Coloumb’s force of electrostatics,
detecting presence of charge in materials
used in our day-to-day life, helps us in
further strengthening our concepts.

 The project is made using basic materials

like old lid jar, copper wire, straw,
aluminum foil etc.

 Electroscopes can be used to study the

properties of electric charge, such as the
Law of Conservation of Charge and the
inverse square law of electrostatics.

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 THEORY
What is an Electroscope?

 The electroscope was invented by the

British physician William Gilbert around
1600. It is one of the most important
instruments used by scientists for the past
many years to study electricity.

 For centuries, it has been defined as a

device made up of conducting material and
used for detecting and testing the presence
of ionizing radiation or electric charge on a
body.

 Electroscopes detect the charge by the test

object’s movement due to the Coulomb
electrostatic force on it, and the amount of
charge on that object is directly
proportional to voltage. In cases, where the
electric charge of the object is equivalent to

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 its capacitance, electroscopes are regarded
as Crude Voltmeters.
 An electroscope often consists of a metal
rod with a knob on the top and a pair of
metal leaves connected at the bottom. This
rod is inserted into a one-hole rubber
stopper that is further fitted into a flask. The
flask contains the rod's lower part, which
includes the metal leaves.

 There are two main types of electroscopes:

I. Gold Leaf Electroscope: This type of
electroscope uses two gold leaves as the
indicators. Gold leaf electroscopes are
very sensitive and can detect even small
amounts of charge.

II. Pith Ball electroscope: This type of

electroscope uses two pith balls as the
indicators. Pith ball electroscopes are
less sensitive than gold leaf ones, but
they are more robust and can be used in
a wider variety of environments.

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 MATERIALS USED
 Copper wire (L=20cm R=2mm)

 Old jar lid

 2 pieces of aluminum foil

 Electrical tape

 Glue

 Plastic straw

 Pliers

 Hole puncher

 Pair of scissors

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 CONSTRUCTION
1. Take 20 cm section of copper wire and
cut it into a convenient length suitable for
your lid jar. Bend the wire at a 90-degree
angle so it forms an ‘L’ shape.
2. Pinch and twist the wire with your
pliers, curling it as you go. Make sure that the
spiral is completely flat—this is the part of
the electroscope that’ll be “picking up” the
electrical charge from another object. Try to
create atleast 3 circles in your spiral, so the
wire covers a larger surface area.

3. Flip your jar over and trace the opening

onto a large piece of cardboard. Then, cut out
the circular outline and punch a hole in the
centre with the tip of your scissors—just
make sure it’s wide enough to fit a plastic
straw.

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 4. Snip off a 7 cm piece of straw and slide
it through the lid’s opening. Using a hot glue
gun, apply a circle of glue around both the
top and bottom of the lid’s opening. Make
sure that the straw is completely rigid before
you continue.
5. Arrange the straight portion of wire
through the bottom of the straw and coiled
section through the top part.

6. Use your fingers or a pair of needle-

nose pliers to pinch the wire into a “U”
shaped hook.

7. Using a hot glue gun, apply a circle

of glue on along the top and bottom of the
opening in the cardboard. Make sure that the
straw is completely rigid before you continue.

8. Make both pieces about 2.5 cm long.

Cut along the edges of the foil to give the
leaves a curved pear shape.
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 9. Pierce the tapered top of each leaf with
a pin to create a small hole and slide both of
the leaves onto the wire hook. Make sure
that both pieces of foil are touching;
otherwise, the electroscope won’t work
properly.

10. Centre the lid on top of the jar—ideally,

the aluminium leaves will reach about
halfway down in the jar. Then, cut a long strip
of electrical tape and secure it snugly around
the rim of the jar, holding the lid in place.

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 WORKING
 The working principle of an electroscope is
based on the principle of electrostatic
induction.

 It consists of a metal rod with a knob at one

end and two leaves of metal foil attached to
the other end. When the knob is touched by
a charged object, the leaves will diverge if
the object is charged with the same type of
charge as the leaves. If the object is charged
with the opposite type of charge, the leaves
will converge.

 When you touch the aluminium foil with

your finger, you transfer some of your
electric charge to the foil. This causes the
foil to become negatively charged.
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  The negative charge on the foil repels the
negative charge on the electrons in the
plastic straw, causing them to move away
from the foil. This creates a positive charge
on the end of the straw that is inside the jar.

 The positive charge on the straw attracts

the negative charge on the electrons in the
air, causing them to move towards the
straw. This creates a current of electricity
that flows through the air and into the jar.

 In both the above cases, the electrons will

return to their original position, and the
leaves will relax as soon as the charge is
removed.
 The amount of divergence of the leaves
depends on the amount of charge on the
object. The more charge on the object, the
greater the divergence of the leaves.

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 OBSERVATIONS
 You can a rub a plastic scale with paper and
bring it near the electroscope. The static
electricity induces charge on the body. The
leaves show deflection inferring the
presence of charge on the surface of the
scale.

 You can bring a PVC pipe near the

electroscope after rubbing it with wool
material. Again, deflection is observed
indicating the presence of charge on the
surface of the pipe.

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 CONCLUSION
 From all these statistics, we can conclude
that the working of an electroscope is based
on charge induction and the notion that
unlike charges attract while charges repel
each other.

 Moreover, the electroscope cannot identify

whether the charge is positive or negative;
rather, it only determines the presence of
the charge.

 Different items in house show different

magnitude of deflection in the aluminium
leaves. This shows that different materials
have different tendency to conduct charges
on their surface. More the deflection, more

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 is the concentration/magnitude of charge
on the surface of the body.

APPLICATIONS
An electroscope can be used to:

 Detect the presence of ionizing radiation or

electric charge on a body.

 Identify and compare the magnitude of

charges.

 Calculate the force between two charges.

 Detect the nature and relative amount of

charges.

 Demonstrate the principles of electrostatics.

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 ADVANTAGES
Electroscopes have a number of advantages
over other devices for detecting and measuring
electric charge, including:

 Simplicity: Electroscopes are simple to

construct and use, making them ideal for
educational purposes.

 Sensitivity: Electroscopes are very sensitive

to electric charge, making them capable of
detecting even small amounts of charge.

 Non-destructive: Electroscopes do not

damage the objects being tested, making
them ideal for use with delicate objects.

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 DISADVANTAGES
Electroscopes also have a number of
disadvantages, which includes:

 Accuracy: Electroscopes are not as

accurate as other devices for measuring
electric charge, such as electrometers.

 Environmental Sensitivity:
Electroscopes are sensitive to
environmental factors, such as humidity
and temperature, which can affect the
accuracy of the measurements.

 Limited Range: Electroscopes can only

measure a limited range of electric
charge.

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Overall, electroscopes are a useful tool for
detecting and measuring electric charge.
However, they are not as accurate as other
devices due to environmental sensitivity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.NCERT Physics Textbook for Class 12th .

2.https://testbook.com/physics/electroscope

3.https://sathee.prutor.ai/article/physics/
physicselectroscope/#:~:text=An
%20electroscope%20works%20by
%20detecting,of%20charge%20on%20the
%20rod.

4.https://www.vedantu.com/physics/
electroscope

5.https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=2PmWlPjV6n0

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