Question

how do you charge an electroscope by conduction

Answer 1

How can a electroscope be charged by conduction?

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Jason Slaton

Answered Jul 22, 2016 · Author has 229 answers and 169.7k answer views

Conduction means to transfer charge through contact. I common way to do this in a college/high school lab is to take a plastic rod and charge it using static electricity (rub it vigorously with fur/wool). Then you touch/scrape the top of the electroscope, which causes the metal pieces inside (leaves) to move apart, because the like charges repel. 
 
 A way to draw a diagram is to do a before/during/after pictures. Before draw either +/- on the rod, I will choose -. 
 Before: rod with - signs. electroscope nuetral (no charges). leaves hanging freely. 
 During: rod touching electroscope. - charges in rod and - charges in leaves. (be sure to draw the leaves separated) 
 After: rod not touching (still - charge). Leaves still separated because of like charges ( - ).