Electric Fields Coursework Example

Student’s name
Professor’s name
Course
Date
Electric Fields
Objectives
To understand the relationship between the contour lines of equal voltage and the electric field created by electrical charges.
To understand how electric field line maps show where electric fields are weak or strong.
To calculate actual values of electric field from the data from the experiment.
Introduction
The electric field concept is helpful in determining the force acting on a charged object due to the existence of other charges. The aim of this experiment is to use a voltmeter to quantitatively map out a set of equipotential lines for various charge distributions. An equipotential line links a set of points which the potential difference is a constant value. To set up the two-dimensional charge distributions, a potential difference is applied to a couple of conductors which are connected with a conducting paper. The electric field can then be established from the equipotential lines.
By the definition of electrical potential, the electric lines are perpendicular to the equipotential lines. Moreover, the rule is that the electric field lines begin on positive and finish on negative charges.
The figure below is an example of Equipotential Lines (solid lines) and Electric Field Lines (dashed lines) (Media1.Britannica.com n.p).

In the experiment, the voltmeter will be used to locate various points with the same potential energy on the conducting paper. The points are recorded on white grid paper and are connected to form an equipotential line.

A set of equipotential lines are used to create a map electric field on which the variations on the density of the charge on the electrodes can be determined.
Materials
Power supply (1 each)
Digital multi-meter (DMM) (1 each)
Electric field experiment board (1 each)
Alligator clips (2 each)
Electrical lead cables (2 each)
Metal pushpins (2 each)
Different pre-terminated conducting papers
Procedure
Exercise 1: Simulating the Electric Field of two parallel electrodes
We drew equipotential lines on the provided white paper. To do this correctly, we first drew the outlines of the circle electrodes at the positions similar to where they appeared on the conductive paper. We then connected the electrodes using the alligator clips. Once that was done, we connected the positive terminal of power supply to one of the electrodes on the conductive paper and the negative terminal to the other circle-shaped electrode. The current knob was then adjusted to the 12 o’clock position before turning the power on and then adjusting the voltage knob to 5V. This voltage remained fixed throughout the mapping of the entire equipotential lines. The COM terminal of the DMM was then connected to the black lead electrode, then the red wire lead that had the probe at one end was inserted into the volt-ohm terminal of the DMM before setting the range knob to 20DVC. The resulted set up was as shown below.

The probe was then carefully touched to the electrodes to verify the connection between the power supply and the electrodes. Also, the probe was touched to the conductive paper at random points.
After a successful verification of the connection between the power supply, the electrodes and the conductive paper, the probe was used to find a point on the conductive paper that gave 0.50 + 0.01 V. the point was then recorded (to the nearest 0.25 cm) on the grid paper before moving the probe 1 to 2cm away that point to search other points that gave the same reading. We carried on the process until we run into the points that we had already located. We then connected the points with a smooth line to give an equipotential line.
The process above was then repeated, but this time we were locating other points until we reached 5 V points. Additionally, we touched the probe to different points of the electrodes and recorded their voltages on the white grid paper since the electrodes too were equipotentials.
Exercise 2: Another Electrode Configuration
The conducting board ion used in exercise 1 was replaced with another one that had a different configuration. The polarity of each electrode was then chosen before appropriately connecting the power supply. Some of the electrodes were not connected as per the instructions from the lab instructor. The process of creating an electric field map above (exercise 1) was then repeated to create another map.
Results
Exercise 1
The figure below is the result for plates with the parallel electrodes. The electrical field lines are represented by the colored lines, and the equipotential lines with black lines.

Exercise 2
The figure below is the result of exercise 2, the plate with a different configuration. The electrical field lines are represented by the colored lines, and the equipotential lines with black lines.

Analysis
Each of the electrodes is an equipotential surface. Therefore, the lines of the electric field enter or leave conductor perpendicularly to its surface (Equipotential Lines | college Physics n.p). The electric charge field is strong near the electrodes. Consequently, the equipotential lines are closest together near the electrodes. The closer the electric field to each other, the stronger the electric field. The electric field lines spread out more as you go away from the charge.
There was no being work done in the regions with the equal electric field strength hence the potential energy remains the same along the lines in the region. However, going off that area, the work done will be either positive or negative. The electric maps from the experiment, therefore, resembled the topographical maps.
While carrying out the experiment, it is possible that there was an occurrence of both random errors and systematic errors. Random errors might have occurred when taking the readings during the experiments such as the voltmeter. The possible source of systematic error during the experiment is the interference of the electric fields and charges by the scratches on the conducting papers and metals around the area. Also, the plates used in the experiment were old and this might have affected the mapping.
Conclusion
Plates in both exercises appeared clearly and mapping out the equipotential lines were simple. In regions where the electric field strength is equal, the potential energy remains the same and hence there is no work done. The electric charge field is strong near the electrodes. Consequently, the equipotential lines are closest together near the electrodes. The closer the electric field to each other, the stronger the electric field. The electric field lines spread out more as you go away from the charge. It was probable that random and systematic errors occurred during the experiment. Possible sources of these errors being inaccurate readings and the electrical charge disturbance respectively.

Works cited
“Equipotential Lines | college Physics”.Opentextbc.Ca,https://opentxtbc.ca/physicstestbook2/chapter/equipotential-lines/. Accessed 3 Mar 2018.
Media1.Britannica.com. https: //media1.britannica.com/eb-media/33/233-004-FC485DCC.jpg. Accessed 3 Mar 2018.