ELECTRIC FIELDS APPARATUS

ELECTRIC FIELDS APPARATUS

• Comprises a clear plastic dish 90mm x 12mm (diameter x depth), and base 140mm x 125mm.
• Six electrodes are supplied, two 'point source' two 'line source' and two circular rings of 35mm and 70mm dia.
• The apparatus enables electric field patterns to be shown in much the same way that magnetic fields are demonstrated with iron fillings, either by direct viewing or on an overhead projector.

(Wikipedia excerpt: ..."...An electric field (sometimes called E-field[1]) is a physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles such as electrons. In classical electromagnetism, the electric field of a single charge (or group of charges) describes their capacity to exert attractive or repulsive forces on another charged object. Charged particles exert attractive forces on each other when the sign of their charges are opposite, one being positive while the other is negative, and repel each other when the signs of the charges are the same. Because these forces are exerted mutually, two charges must be present for the forces to take place.

These forces are described by Coulomb's law, which says that the greater the magnitude of the charges, the greater the force, and the greater the distance between them, the weaker the force. Informally, the greater the charge of an object, the stronger its electric field. Similarly, an electric field is stronger nearer charged objects and weaker further away. Electric fields originate from electric charges and time-varying electric currents. Electric fields and magnetic fields are both manifestations of the electromagnetic field. Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions of nature. ...")