a student is desging an investigation of the distributation of charges in conducters. she will use two conducting spheres mounted on insulating stands in the investigation. the conducting spheres are shown. the student wants to seperate the charges of the spheres as shown. what should the student do in her investigatoin to produce these results
To separate the charges on the conducting spheres, the student can follow these steps in her investigation:
1. Start with the conducting spheres mounted on insulating stands.
2. Connect one of the spheres to a power source (e.g., a battery) using a conducting wire.
3. Attach a resistor or a light bulb to the wire connected to the powered sphere. This will limit the current flow.
4. Turn on the power source to allow charges to flow from the power source to the conducting sphere.
5. As charges flow into the conducting sphere, it will become positively charged (due to the excess positive charges from the power source).
6. Once the desired amount of charge has accumulated on the first sphere, disconnect it from the power source.
7. Now, the first sphere is positively charged, while the second sphere is neutral.
8. Disconnect the resistor or light bulb from the wire connected to the first sphere.
9. Connect the wire to the second sphere.
10. As both spheres are conductors, charge will distribute on the outer surface of the second sphere.
11. Since the first sphere is positively charged and the second sphere is neutral, the excess positive charges on the first sphere will attract an equal number of negative charges (electrons) from the second sphere.
12. This will leave the second sphere with a net positive charge, while the first sphere retains its positive charge.
13. Finally, the desired result is achieved: one sphere with a positive charge and the other sphere with a lesser positive charge (due to the transfer of electrons).
Note that it is important to handle the spheres carefully, ensuring they remain insulated from other objects (except when being connected) to avoid any unwanted charge transfers.