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Electricity

Transfer of electrons in charging and discharging

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 11 (Physics)

Overview

Which particles move when insulators are rubbed and why protons stay put, how polythene and acetate rods charge oppositely, why the charges on the rod and the cloth are equal and opposite, why rubbing works where resting does not, and how a charged sphere discharges through a person to earth.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Why do protons not move from one surface to the other when two objects are rubbed together?

Key term

A polythene rod is rubbed with a cloth and becomes negatively charged. Explain what has happened.

Key term

An acetate rod is rubbed with a cloth and becomes positively charged. Explain what has happened.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Which charged particles move when two insulating surfaces are rubbed together?

    Model answer

    Electrons.

  2. 2

    Why do protons not move from one surface to the other when two objects are rubbed together?

    Model answer

    Protons are held tightly in the nuclei of the atoms and are not free to move.

  3. 3

    A polythene rod is rubbed with a cloth and becomes negatively charged. Explain what has happened.

    Model answer

    Electrons have been transferred from the cloth onto the rod, giving the rod more electrons than protons.

  4. 4

    An acetate rod is rubbed with a cloth and becomes positively charged. Explain what has happened.

    Model answer

    Electrons have been transferred from the rod onto the cloth, leaving the rod with fewer electrons than protons.

  5. 5

    A cloth is used to charge a rod negatively. What charge is left on the cloth?

    Model answer

    An equal positive charge.

  6. 6

    Why are the charges on the two objects always equal in size and opposite in sign after rubbing?

    Model answer

    No charge is created or destroyed; the electrons one object gains are exactly the electrons the other object loses.

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