COULOMB’S LAW

Project Report
Submitted by
NIVETHANA. A
In partial fulfilment of the
CBSE GRADE – XII
IN
PHYSICS
AT

MAHARISHI VIDYA MANDIR SR. SEC. SCHOOL

THENMATHUR POST,
TIRUVANNAMALAI 606603 2024 -
2025

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that NIVETHANA.A of grade of XII
MAHARISHI VIDYA MANDIR [Link] .SCHOOL,
TIRUVANNAMALAI with register number
____________ has satisfactorily completed the project
in Physics on “COULOMB'S LAW” in partial
 fulfillment of the requirement as prescribed by CBSE
in the year 2024 – 2025.

Signature of the Candidate Signature of Internal

Examinar

Signature of the Principal Signature of External

Examinar ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I warmly acknowledge the continuous encouragement and
timely suggestions offered by our dear principal
[Link],Msc.,[Link].,M.L.I Sc,[Link]., I extend my hearty
thanks for giving me the opportunity to make use of the facilities
available in the campus to carry out the project successfully.
 I am highly indebted to [Link], [Link]., [Link]., M.
Phil., (DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS) for the constant
supervision,providing necessary information and in completing the
project .

I would like to express my gratitude them for their kind

cooperation and encouragement

Fiinally, I extend my gratitude to one and all who are directly

or indirectly involved in the successful completion of this project
work.

Signature of the candidate

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TO ESTIMATE THE
CHARGE INDUCED
ON EACH OF THE
TWO IDENTICAL
STYRO FOAM (OR
PITH) BALLS
SUSPENDED IN A
VERTICAL PLANE
BY MAKING USE
OF COULOMB’S LAW
CHARLS-AUGUSTIN DE
COULOMB
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
(14 June 1736 –

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23 August 1806) was a French military

engineer and physicist. He is best
known for developing what is now
known as
Coulomb's law, the description of
the electrostatic force of attraction
and repulsion, but also did
important work on friction.
The SI unit of electric charge, the coulomb, was named in his
honor in 1908. In 1785, Coulomb presented his first three reports on
Electricity and Magnetism.
Coulomb describes "How to construct and use an
electric balance (torsion balance) based on the property of the metal
wires of having a reaction torsion force proportional to the torsion
angle." Coulomb also experimentally determined the law that explains
how "two bodies electrified of the same kind of
Electricity exert on each other."
Coulomb explained the laws of attraction and
repulsion between electric charges and magnetic poles, although he
did not find any relationship between the two phenomena. He
thought that the attraction and repulsion were
due to different kinds of fluids.

COULOMB’S LAW
Coulomb's law, or Coulomb's inverse-square law, is a law of physics for
quantifying Coulomb's force, or electrostatic force. Electrostatic force is
the amount of force with which stationary, electrically charged particles
either repel, or attract each other. This force and the law for quantifying
it, represent one of the most basic forms of force used in the physical
sciences, and were an essential basis to the study and development of
the theory and field of classical electromagnetism. The law was first
published in 1785 by French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb.

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In its scalar form, the law is:

ýÿ1ÿ2
㔹= 2
Ā

where k is Coulomb's constant (k ≈ 9×10 9 N m2 C-2), q1 and q2 are the

signed magnitudes of the charges, and the scalar r is the distance
between the charges. The force of the interaction between the charges
is attractive if the charges have opposite signs (i.e., F is negative) and
repulsive if like-signed (i.e., F is positive).
Being an inverse-square law, the law is analogous to Isaac Newton's
inverse-square law of universal gravitation. Coulomb's law can be used
to derive Gauss's law, and vice versa. The law has been tested
extensively, and all observations have upheld the laws of Newton.

OBJECTIVE: -
To estimate the charge induced on each of the two
identical Styrofoam (or pith) balls suspended in a
vertical plane by making use of Coulomb’s law.

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MATERIALS REQUIRED: -
• Small size identical Styrofoam balls

• Physical balance or electronic balance

• Meter Scale

• Teflon thread

• Stand

• Glass rod (or plastic rod)

• Silk cloth (or wool cloth)

THEORY: -
The fundamental concept in electrostatics is electrical charge. We are
all familiar with the fact that rubbing two materials together (For
example, a rubber comb on cat fur) produces a <static= charge. This
process is called charging by friction. Surprisingly, the exact physics of
the process of charging by friction is poorly understood. However, it is
known that the making and breaking of contact between the two
materials transfers the charge.

The charged particles which make up the universe come in three kinds:
positive, negative, and neutral. Neutral particles do not interact with
electrical forces. Charged particles exert electrical and magnetic forces
on one another, but if the charges are stationary, the mutual force is
very simple in form and is given by Coulomb's Law:

ýÿ1ÿ2

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㔹= 2
Ā

where F is the electrical force between any two stationary charged

particles with charges q¡ and q¢ (measured in coulombs), r is the
separation between the charges (measured in meters), and k is a
constant of nature (equal to 9×109 Nm2/C2 in SI units).
The study of the Coulomb forces among arrangements of stationary
charged particles is called electrostatics. Coulomb's Law describes
three properties of the electrical force:

• The force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance

between the charges, and is directed along the straight line that
connects their centers.

• The force is proportional to the product of the magnitude of the

charges.

• Two particles of the same charge exert a repulsive force on each other,
and two particles of opposite charge exert an attractive force on each
other.

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Most of the common objects we deal with in the macroscopic (human-

sized) world are electrically neutral. They are composed of atoms that
consist of negatively charged electrons moving in quantum motion
around a positively charged nucleus. The total negative charge of the
electrons is normally exactly equal to the total positive charge of the
nuclei, so the atoms (and therefore the entire object) have no net
electrical charge. When we charge a material by friction, we are
transferring some of the electrons from one material to another.

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brought close to an isolated, neutral insulator, the electrons in the

atoms of the insulator will be pushed slightly away from the

A neutral particle is not affected by

electrical forces.
Nevertheless, a charged object will
attract a neutral macroscopic
object by the process of electrical
polarization. For example, if a
negatively charged rod is negative
rod, and the positive nuclei will be
attracted slightly toward the
negative rod. We say that the rod
has induced polarization in the
insulator, but its net charge is still
zero.

The polarization of charge in the insulator is small, but now its positive
charge is a bit closer to the negative rod, and its negative charge is a bit
farther away. Thus, the positive charge is attracted to the rod more
strongly than the negative charge is repelled, and there is an overall net
attraction.

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If the negative rod is brought near an isolated, neutral conductor, the

conductor will also be polarized. In the conductor, electrons are free to
move through the material, and some of them are repelled over to the
opposite surface of the conductor, leaving the surface near the negative
rod with a net positive charge. The conductor has been polarized, and
will now be attracted to the charged rod.

Now if we connect a conducting wire or any other conducting material

from the polarized conductor to the ground, we provide a <path=
through which the electrons can move. Electrons will actually move
along this path to the ground. If the wire or path is subsequently
disconnected, the conductor as a whole is left with a net positive
charge. The conductor has been charged without actually being
touched with the charged rod, and its charge is opposite that of the
rod. This procedure is called charging by induction.

Let the force between two stationary charges be F.

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PROCEDURE: -

• Weight the mass of each identical pith balls by balance and note
down it.

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• Tie the balls with two silk or cotton threads and suspend at a
point on a stand or a rigid support. Measure the length of threads
by meter scale. The length of threads should be equal. Note down
the length.

• Rub the glass rod with silk cloth and touch with both balls
together so that the balls acquired equal charge.

• Suspend the balls freely and the balls stay away a certain distance
between the balls when they become stationary. Note down the
distance.

• Touch any one suspended ball with other uncharged third ball and
takes the third ball away and repeat the step 4.

• Touch other suspended ball with other uncharged fourth ball and
takes the fourth ball away and repeat the step 4.

OBSERVATION: -

•
Mass of each ball, (m) = g.

•
Radius of each ball, (r) = mm.

•
Length of each thread, (l) = cm.

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[Link] CHARGE ON BALL A CHARGE ON BALL DISTANCE BETWEEN

() B THE BALLS
() (x cm)
1.

2.

3.

4.

CALCULATIONS: -
By using the relation:

ÿ 㕔㕥
√
2㔾 þ

3
ÿ=

Calculate the charge in each case.

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RESULTS: -
The charge on each ball = C

PRECAUTIONS: -
• The suspended balls should not be touched by any conducting
body.

• Rub the glass rod properly with the silk cloth to produce more
charge.

• Weight the mass of the balls accurately.

SOURCES OF ERROR: -
• The balls may not be of equal size and mass.

• The distance between the balls may be measured accurately.

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