A very pointed conductor has a large charge concentration at the point. The electric field is very strong at the point and can exert a force large enough to transfer charge on or off the conductor. Lightning rods are used to prevent the buildup of large excess charges on structures and, thus, are pointed.(a) A lightning rod is pointed to facilitate the transfer of charge. (credit: Romaine, Wikimedia Commons) (b) This Van de Graaff generator has a smooth surface with a large radius of curvature to prevent the transfer of charge and allow a large voltage to be generated. The mutual repulsion of like charges is evident in the person’s hair while touching the metal sphere. (credit: Jon ‘ShakataGaNai’ Davis/Wikimedia Commons).
Section summary
A conductor allows free charges to move about within it.
The electrical forces around a conductor will cause free charges to move around inside the conductor until static equilibrium is reached.
Any excess charge will collect along the surface of a conductor.
Conductors with sharp corners or points will collect more charge at those points.
A lightning rod is a conductor with sharply pointed ends that collect excess charge on the building caused by an electrical storm and allow it to dissipate back into the air.
Electrical storms result when the electrical field of Earth’s surface in certain locations becomes more strongly charged, due to changes in the insulating effect of the air.
A Faraday cage acts like a shield around an object, preventing electric charge from penetrating inside.
Conceptual questions
Is the object in
[link] a conductor or an insulator? Justify your answer.
The discussion of the electric field between two parallel conducting plates, in this module states that edge effects are less important if the plates are close together. What does close mean? That is, is the actual plate separation crucial, or is the ratio of plate separation to plate area crucial?
Would the self-created electric field at the end of a pointed conductor, such as a lightning rod, remove positive or negative charge from the conductor? Would the same sign charge be removed from a neutral pointed conductor by the application of a similar externally created electric field? (The answers to both questions have implications for charge transfer utilizing points.)
Using the symmetry of the arrangement, show that the net Coulomb force on the charge
at the center of the square below (
[link] ) is zero if the charges on the four corners are exactly equal.
the study of living organisms and their interactions with one another and their environment.
Wine
discuss the biological phenomenon and provide pieces of evidence to show that it was responsible for the formation of eukaryotic organelles in an essay form
advantage of electronic microscope is easily and clearly while disadvantage is dangerous because its electronic. advantage of light microscope is savely and naturally by sun while disadvantage is not easily,means its not sharp and not clear
Abdullahi
cell theory state that every organisms composed of one or more cell,cell is the basic unit of life
Abdullahi
is like gone fail us
DENG
cells is the basic structure and functions of all living things
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is ideal for situations requiring high-resolution imaging of surfaces. It is commonly used in materials science, biology, and geology to examine the topography and composition of samples at a nanoscale level. SEM is particularly useful for studying fine details,
