describe the working of an electoscope work .under what conditions would the gold leaves of an electoscope which are charged move close to each other
Answers
Answer:
The electroscope is an early scientific instrument used to detect the presence of electric charge on a body. It detects charge by the movement of a test object due to the Coulomb electrostatic force on it. The amount of charge on an object is proportional to its voltage. The accumulation of enough charge to detect with an electroscope requires hundreds or thousands of volts, so electroscopes are used with high voltage sources such as static electricity and electrostatic machines. An electroscope can only give a rough indication of the quantity of charge; an instrument that measures electric charge quantitatively is called an electrometer.
⇒When the metal terminal is touched with a charged object, the gold leaves spread apart in an inverted 'V'. This is because some of the charge on the object is conducted through the terminal and metal rod to the leaves. Since they receive the same sign charge they repel each other and thus diverge.
Explanation:
Gold leaf electroscope has two gold leafs suspended from a metal(usually brass) stem in a vacuumed glass jar and connected to a metal cap. The glass is grounded with the help of a metal foil to make it uncharged. It can be used to:
Detect charge: Body under test is touched with the metal cap. If the leaves diverge, the body is charged and if there is no effect on leaves, then the body is uncharged.
To identify the nature of charge: The electroscope is charged by a known body(say positively charged body) and then the body is removed. Next, the body under test is brought in contact with the metal cap. If the leaves diverge further, the body has same charge(positive) and if the leaves come closer to each other, the body has opposite charge(negative).
Identify a body as conductor or insulator: Take two electroscopes. Charge one of the electroscopes so that its leaves will diverge. Then, connect the two electroscopes by the object under test. If the leaves of other electroscope diverge, the body is a conductor and if there is no effect on the electroscopes, the body is an insulator.
