Ball bounces between two charged plates.
The plates of a parallel plate capacitor are connected to the electrodes of a Wimshurst machine and a ping-pong ball is suspended between the two plates. When the plates become charged, a separation of charge is induced on the ping-pong ball. The side of the ball nearest one of the plates experiences a greater attraction than the other side, and the ball moves over and touches the near plate. It immediately acquires the charge of that plate, is repelled by it and attracted by the other plate with an opposite charge. This process and the oscillations continue until no net charge exists on the plates.
Equipment | Storage |
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Capacitor with ping-pong ball | 021-8C |
Wimshust machine | 021-20A |