JAI ACADEMY
SESSION:2025-2026
PHYSICS PROJECT FILE
SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:
SHAILESH SIR SRISHTI BHAGAT
CLASS-XII-B
PHYSICS
INVESTIGATORY PROJECT
To estimate the charge induced on each
one of the two identical styrofoam (or
pith) balls suspended in a vertical plane
by making use of Coulomb's law
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Srishti Bhagat student
of Class XII (PCB)-B; has successfully completed the
project on topic “To estimate the charge induced
on each one of the two identical styrofoam (or
pith) balls suspended in a vertical plane by
making use of Coulomb's law. " in the academic
year 2025-2026: in the institution Jai Academy.
_________________
________________
Teacher’s Signature Examiner’s
Signature
I would like to sincerely
and profusely thanks to my
biology teacher Mr. Shailesh
Sir(PHYSICS) and our Lab
att end for their guidance and
support in completi ng my
project.
I would also like to extend my
gratitude to the Principal Sanjay
Singh for providing me with all the
facility that was required
_________________________________________
Signature of student
INDEX
MAKING USE OF COULOMB’S LAW
ABOUT COULOMB’S LAW
OBJECTIVE
MATERIAL REQUIRED
THEORY
PROCEDURE
OBSERVATION
CALCULATION
RESULT
PRECAUTION
SOURCE OF ERROR
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MAKING USE OF
COULOMB’S LAW
Coulomb graduated in
November 1761 from École
royale du génie de
Mézières. Over the next
twenty years he was
posted to a variety of
locations where he was
involved in engineering -
structural, fortifications,
soil mechanics, as well as
other fields of engineering. His first posting was to
Brest but in February 1764 he was sent to Martinique,
in the West Indies, where he was put in charge of
building the new Fort Bourbon and this task occupied
him until June 1772.
On his return to France, Coulomb was sent to
Bouchain. However, he now began to write important
works on applied mechanics and he presented his first
work to the Académie des Sciences in Paris in 1773. In
1779 Coulomb was sent to Rochefort to collaborate
with the Marquis de Montalembert in constructing a
fort made entirely from wood near lle d'Aix. During his
period at Rochefort, Coulomb carried on
his research into mechanics, in particular using the
shipyards in Rochefort as laboratories for his
experiments.
Upon his return to France, with the rank of Captain, he
was employed at La Rochelle, the Isle of Aix and
Cherbourg. He discovered an inverse relationship of
the force betweenelectric charges and the square of its
distance, later named after him as Coulomb's law.
COULOMB’S LAW
In 1785 Augustine de Coulomb investigated the
attractive and repulsive forces between charged
objects, experimentally formulating what is now
referred to as Coulomb's Law: "The magnitude of
the electric force that a particle exerts on another is
directly proportional to the product of their charges
and inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between them." Mathematically, this
electrostatic F acting on two charged particles (q1,
q2) is expressed as
where r is the separation distance between the
objects and k is a constant of proportionality, called
the Coulomb constant, k = 9.0 x 109 N m2/C2. This
formula gives us the magnitude of the force as well
as direction by noting a positive force as attractive
and a negative force as repulsive. Noting that like
charges repel each other and opposite charges
attracting each other, Coulomb measured the force
between the objects, small metal coated balls, by
using a torsion balance similar to the balance used
to measure gravitational forces.
OBJECTIVE:
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.
MATERIAL REQUIRED
Small size identical balls (pitch or soft plastic)
Physical balance or electronic balance
Halfmeter Scale
Cotton thread
Stand
Glass rod (or plastic rod)
Silk cloth (or wollen 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:
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:
1. 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.
2. The force is proportional to the product of the
magnitude of the charges.
3. 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.
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
Materials such as metals are conductors. Each metal
atom contributes one or two electrons that can
move relatively freely through the material. A
conductor will carry an electrical current. Other
materials such as glass are insulators. Their electrons
are bound tightly and cannot move. Charge sticks on
an insulator, but does not move freely through it.
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 brought close to an isolated, neutral insulator, the
electrons in the atoms of the insulator will be
pushed slightly away from the 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 it's 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.
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.
PROCEDURE:
1) Weight the mass of each identical pitch balls by
balance and note down it.
2) 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 half meter
scale. The length of threads should be equal.
Note down the length.
3) Rub the glass rod with silk cloth and touch with
both balls together so that the balls acquired
equal charge.
4) Suspend the balls freely and the balls stay away
a certain distance between the balls when they
become stationary. Note down the distance.
5) Touch any one suspended ball with other
uncharged third ball and takes the third ball
away and repeat the step 4.
6) 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) = 200 gm.
Radius of the ball, (a) = 0.2 cm.
Length of thread (I) = 100 cm.
[Link] Charge on Charge on Distance
Ball B1 Ball B2 between the
two balls(in
cm)
1 0.00µC 0.00µC 0.4cm
2 2.00µC 2.00µC 33.0cm
3 2.00µC 2.00µC 26.2cm
4 1.00µC 1.00µC 20.8cm
CALCULATION:
RESULT:
The output voltage of the transformer across
the secondary coil depends upon the ratio
(Ns/Np) with respect to the input voltage.
There is a loss of power between input and
output coil of a transformer.
PRECAUTION:
The charge on each ball = C
1. The suspended balls should not be touched
by any conducting body.
2. Rub the glass rod properly with the silk cloth
to produce more charge
3. Weight the mass of the balls accurately
SOURCE OF ERROR:
4. The balls may not be of equal size and mass.
5. 2. The distance between the balls may be
measured accurately.
Bibliography
Parts of this project have been referred from foreign
sources and have been included in this project after
editing .
The reference of sources is as follows:-
Books:-
a)PHYSICS NCERT Book class 12th
b) National Geographic Magazine
Internet Sources:-
a) [Link]
b) [Link]
d)[Link]
Journal.
a)Physics Today
b)Science Reporter