Report

Physics II Laboratory Faculty of Science, UOIT Report for Experiment PhyII-01: Electric Field and Potential Student name: Arash Delkhoon And Muhammad Khalid And Konrad Herbus CRN: 71909 Date: 29/01/2020 Conclusion: In this experiment a current of 5V was run through conductive paper, using charged conductors. One conductor was positively charged and the other was negatively charged. This was done in order to explore the electrostatic field formed by the charge. A voltmeter was used to measure and find these field lines. In the experiment the EPLs, also know as equipotential lines were found to adapt the same form as the conductors. The circular conductor causes the equipotential lines to curve while the straight-line conductors straightened the fields. This phenomenon was explored after finding the equipotential lines that valued at 1V to 4V. When determining the effects of the field inside a conductor, the voltmeter showed a constant voltage throughout the inside of the conductor. This displays how the circular conductor emits a constant field within itself. When exploring the electric field lines, it was found that the fields flowed from positive to negative, as the are emitted directly out of the conductor. Starting from the shortest path from the positive conductor to negative conductor, a straight line is shown. As the field lines travel farther and farther from this central line, they become far more curved. This effect of the field lines radiating outward is the primary focus of electric field lines. The hollow cavities that can be found inside conductors provided zero electric field lines, when exploring with the voltmeter. In both cases for EPLs, and EFLs they follow the shape of the conductor. The main point when comparing EFLs to EPLs, is that EFLs are always perpendicular to EPLs. Secondly, while electric fields are the amount of force to move the charge of an object, electric potential lines are the amount of work needed to move the charge of an object. The thinness in electric potential lines deals with how rapidly the field changes, while the thickness of electric field line has to do with the magnitude of the electric field. In the end, the predictions made prior to the lab were confirmed by the laboratory experiment. The monuments and changes of both the EFLs, and EPLs were for the most part, confirmed. One section in which our predictions were incorrect, was when exploring the hollow section within a circular conductor. The expectation was that there would be zero EFLs, and zero EPLs found within the cavity. This assumption was disproven once the concept was explored. Any errors in the experiment would be due to misreading’s of the voltmeter and possible faulty wire connections. Finally, it was found that the electric field distribution remained constant along the electric field lines. This can be explained by how the fields radiate outward. Any change in the electric field distribution would be seen on the lines moving inward or outward. No change can be seen on the field line itself due to the energy provided by the positive and negative conductors. Report for Experiment PhyII – 01: Electric Field and Potential