Electroscope - Definition, Types, FAQs
Electroscope is an instrument which is used to detect the presence of charge and its nature. A gold leaf electroscope is an example of widely used electroscope.
What is an electroscope?
A simple electroscope is an instrument which is used to detect the presence of charge and its nature .
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How many types of electroscopes are there ?
There are two types of electroscopes.
- Gold leaf electroscope
- Pith-ball electroscope
Gold-leaf electroscope :
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How gold-leaf electroscope functions?
To determine the nature of the charge of a body, an electroscope have to be charged positively or negatively. If the electroscope is positively charged, then its leaves are divergent .The object to be tested is bought slowly in touch with the disc. If the divergence between the leaves gets increased then the object is positively charged. If the divergence gets decreased then the object is negatively charged. As we know, opposite charges attract each other and same charges repel each other. Due to this property of charges gold leaves show such phenomenon.
The nature of the charges would just be opposite if we initially started with a negatively charged electroscope.
If the object was uncharged then also it will diminish the divergence to some extent, so it is not easy to determine the nature of the charge of the body. If the test object is opposite in nature to the electroscope. But, increase in divergence of the leaves of the electroscope gives us indication for the nature of the body.
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what is pith ball electroscope?:
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A Pith ball electroscope is made up of one stand and one small nonconducting ball. Sometimes there can be more than one ball also. If an object is taken closer to the balls and then the balls get attracted towards that object. By this phenomenon we can conclude that the object is charged. Pith ball electroscope uses induction nature of charge as its working principle.
What is the use of an electroscope?
- Electroscope is used to determine the nature of the charges.
- It detects the presence of charge in a body.
- The strength of the two charges can be compared by using electroscopes.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
British physician William Gilbert invented the electroscope.
In the year 1600 the electroscope was invented.
John Canton invented the pith-ball electroscope.
In the year 1754 the pith ball electroscope was invented.
The pith-ball electroscope uses the induction characteristic of charge.
Abraham Bennet invented the gold leaf electroscope.
1787 the gold leaf electroscope was invented.
The attraction and repulsion characteristic of charge is used in the gold leaf electroscope.
Following steps are followed to make an electroscope:
A glass container is taken and a metal coil is introduced inside it.
Two metal plates are fixed to the metal coils present in the container.
Another end of the coil is kept in contact with the charged body.
This setup will help in finding the charge present.
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