Electrostatics

Big Question: How is electricity generated and employed to do useful work?

This past week, our class was introduced to electrostatics! In class, we experimented with a lemon battery and a Van de Graaf generator. Both of these experiments taught us about voltage, charge, affinity, and electrical potential energy.
REMEMBER!
-Protons NEVER move, only electrons
-Opposite charges attract (+)(-), Like charges repel (+)(+) and (-)(-)
-Through friction, we transfer charge
-If there is a neutral object, only attraction. Never repelling

As you can see in the picture above, we used a lemon battery to help us learn the lessons. The battery (lemon) had a neutral charge from the penny (-)and the zinc nail (+). We connected each lemon with wires. The wires would connect the lemons by touching the opposite charges (penny to zinc nail) or vice versa. Later, we were challenged to make an LED bulb light up. To do this, we needed a lot more materials! Once the voltage was at about 3, we connected the bulb to the circuit and it lit up! Why did this happen? We made the lemon "do work" with the acid chemical reaction within the lemon. The wires, pennies, and zinc nails helped us complete the electrical circuit.

This concept is used in our IPad batteries! An IPad is shaped because of the battery used to power it. The battery is made of lithium-polymer. When we charge our IPads, the ions move from the anode to the cathode. When the battery is dead and not charging, the ions move back to the anode again. If you didn't know already, ions are charged atoms which either gained or lost electrons. Hence, plugging in our electronics to "charge" them. The outlet acts like a mountain. There is a separation of positive and negative charges. The mountain only separates the charges. It does not contain stored energy.

As you can see, the charges run up or down the hill which is created from the attraction of opposite charged or the opposition of like charges. An IPad battery has charges or electric potential energy.This energy allows us to power up our IPads.