Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Gatlin
Partner: Whitney H.
Date Performed: 14-Jan-2000
Section 004; T.A. John Carruth
Electric Fields Experiment
OBJECTIVES
In order to understand the concept of an electric field, this lab teaches how to measure the electric
field strength, while gaining a conceptual hold on the relationships between electric field
strength and electric potential . This experiment utilizes differing electrode configurations
INTRODUCTION
An electric field is any space that will exert force on a present test charge whose magnitude is
Electric fields are vector quantities that move in a particular direction, from positive charge to
negative charge. Thus, electric fields are created within a space by producing charges of opposite
signs that remain separated. Within this experiment, the electromagnetic field (EMF) is applied to
two separate electrodes to create an electric field through the tap water medium in the glass tray.
Coulomb’s law. Coulomb’s Law allows the computation of the magnitude of the electric field,
using the charge distributions present from the two separate electrodes placed within the
conducting medium, in this case—tap water. However, these charge distributions are often difficult
to measure, but using the relationship to the electric potential can be used to calculate the
magnitude of the electric field the electric potential is easily obtainable by using a probe
The electric potential equal to the quotient of the work over the magnitude of the point
charge as follows: Ѵ= . Therefore, the relationship of the electric potential , to the magnitude of
Hence, the electric field strength at a point is calculable with the potential difference between
nearby points that lie along the same line in the direction of the electric field and dividing the
Procedure
The apparatus of the experiment consisted of a glass tray with a small layer of tap water
that had two fixed electrodes sitting inside of it that were hooked up to a power supply in order to
create an electric field within the tap water. Under the glass tray was a coordinate system that
allowed the plotting of data points as the varying voltages were obtained. The voltage was read
using a voltmeter connected to a freely moving probe to collect the necessary data. In the first part
of the experiment, the voltage readings were used to collect data for 1.0 volts, 2.0 volts, etc while
In the second component of the experiment, the same apparatus was used with a change.
The probes now stood ~8-cm apart on a line along the tray’s axis in order to create a point charge
within the glass tray. The same experiment was now repeated with this set-up and the same
voltage reading data was collected and plotted along a second graph.
2|P ag e
Emily A. Gatlin
Data
3|P ag e
Emily A. Gatlin
Experiment 1
16.0
1.0 v
14.0
12.0 2.0 v
10.0 3.0 v
8.0 4.0 v
A B C
6.0 5.0 v
4.0
7.0 v
2.0
0.0 8.0 v
Results
To find the electric field, the difference in the electric potential was used.
Experiment #1:
Experiment #2:
4|P ag e
Emily A. Gatlin
The results show that it is expected that the electric field lines run perpendicular to the electric
potential lines in experiment 1 that has a uniform electric field. Additionally, the data points along
the electric field line show how the magnitude of the electric field is calculated from the electric
potential. Experiment 2 demonstrated how the electric field lines shift with the electric potential
The possibilities for error within this experiment are the possibility of a faulty voltmeter, inaccurate
plotting of the data points, the potential for charge to be transferred by touch to the probe with the
measuring probe, the evaporation of water and all other sources of human error could produce less
reliable data. However, this lab demonstrated the concepts behind electric potential and the
Conclusion
This experiment adequately addressed the relationships between electric field magnitudes and
electric potential. The experiment allowed computation of the electric field magnitude using the
gathered data from the experiments. The experiment also showed how the different types of
charges associated with the electric field produce very different electric field lines and electric
potential lines. In the first experiment, the separate charge distribution produces a uniform electric
field that has nearly straight vertical lines and the nearly straight perpendicular electric field lines
associated with them. In contrast, the second experiment shows the circular pattern produced
from a point charge by the electric potential lines. Thus, the electric field lines lie perpendicular to
the electric potential lines radiate from the point charge—all around it. This lab clearly shows how
the electric potential is a very applicable method to compute electric field magnitude.
5|P ag e