Physics IA

Tualatin High School

“How will Changing the Arrangement of Positive and Negative Charges Affect the Electric Field in an Area”

Yarik Texta-Gonzales

Table of contents

1. Introduction

2. Procedure

3. Variables

4. Images

5. Graphs

6. Conclusion

7. Works Cited

8. Return to research

Introduction: Top

Have you ever wondered how the arrangement of positive and negative charges affects the electric field and voltage within a certain area? First off I'll start off by stating some background info, a charge is a: characteristic of a unit of matter that expresses the extent to which it has more or fewer electrons than protons. In atoms, the electron carries a negative elementary or unit charge; the proton carries a positive charge. The two types of charge are equal and opposite”^[1]. In this simulation, we will be able to see how the arrangement of positive and negative charges will affect the electric field within a certain are, which leads to my question in which states: “How will Changing the Arrangement of Positive and Negative Charges Affect the Electric Field in an Area”. I predict that as the distance between charges increases, then the the strength of both the electric field and voltage will increase as well because as the charges get farther apart then there will be less interference from the other charges within the area. In this experiment we will b focusing around the are of the positive charge and ist electric field

Procedure: Top

Materials:

- A computer

- Internet

- Google

- Simulation

- Measurement tape cm. (provided within the simulation)

Dependent variable:

Independent variable

Figure 1- The simulation in its basic form:

Variables: Top

Independent: arrangement of charges- inludes distance in (M), (CM)

Dependent: strength of electric field (NC), voltage (V)

In this experiment, we will be able to control the distance between the positive and negative charges and the number of charges placed within the area inside of this simulation. As we change this we will be able to see the changes in voltage and also see the change of the strength within the electric fields. Keep in mind that the in order to find the strength of the electric field within a certain area the use of the formula E=(k)(Q)/d^2 where K is the number 9.0x10^9m^2/C^2. In this experiment, we will increase the distance by a total of 5 cm a total of 10 times. The 3 images below show the process of rearranging the negative charge father and farther away from the positive charge while measuring the change in voltage. Keep in mind this is a just a short demo of the 10 trials,

Images: Top

Figure 2:

Figure 3:

Graphs: Top

Chart

Figure 5 – Graph for table1

Data: Excel ... Text

- Strength of the electric field affected by the arrangement of charges

Conclusion: Top

In the outcome of this experiment, the voltage did increase as I predicted although the strength of the electric field was decreasing as the negative charge did get farther away from the positive charge through the use of the formula stated above and eventually, as seen in the second data table it increased at one point but continued to decrease. Some possible some possible factors that could have affected the outcome of this experiment could be the movement of the charges which was freely by hand rather than by the computer itself, not only that but also the distance was off by tenths of centimeters and could not be placed at every exact 5 centimeters. I think that the the strength of the electric field continued to decrease because as the negative charge continued to get farther away from the positive charge then the electrostatic began to decrease causing the strength of the electric field to decrease as well.

Related websites: Top

1. https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/neutron this helps you know what a neutron

2. https://www.britannica.com/science/electron this also helps if you need to know what an electron is

3. https://www.britannica.com/science/electric-field all you need to know for an electric field

4. http://www.pstcc.edu/departments/natural_behavioral_sciences/Web%20Physics/Chapter18.htm this gives you an insight on electric charge and field

5. https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/estatics/Lesson-4/Electric-Field-Lines this helps you understand electric lines and electric fields 8/10 would recommend

Works Cited : Top

“Electric Field Intensity.” The Physics Classroom, www.physicsclassroom.com/class/estatics/Lesson-4/Electric-Field-Intensity.

“What Is Charge (Electric Charge)? - Definition from WhatIs.com.” WhatIs.com, whatis.techtarget.com/definition/charge-electric-charge.

“‪Charges And Fields 1.0.11.” PhET, phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/charges-and-fields/latest/charges-and-fields_en.html.

^[1] “What Is Charge (Electric Charge)? - Definition from WhatIs.com.” WhatIs.com, whatis.techtarget.com/definition/charge-electric-charge.