Question

An aircraft flies just below a negatively charged thundercloud.



Answer these questions.
1. Will any electrostatic charges be included on the aircraft?
2. If so, draw the signs and positions of the induced charges on the aircraft.
3. Explain the distribution of the charges that you have shown on the basis of the movement of electrons.
4. Draw a diagram to show the charges after the aircraft has flown away from the cloud.
​5. Explain the distribution of charges you have shown in Ans. 4 on the basis of the movement of electrons.

Answer 1

(1) Yes, aircraft is made up of conducting material, so the electrostatic charge will get induced on the surface of aircraft.

(2) Induced charges on the aircraft:



(3) When an aircraft passes below the negatively charged cloud, due to the force of repulsion of negative charge from the cloud, the electrons on the surface of aircraft shift away from the surface and leave the surface positively charged. As you can see in the above figure. Due to the movement of electrons, the surface of the aircraft becomes positively charged while the bottom of the aircraft becomes negatively charged.

(4) After the aircraft has flown away from the cloud:



(5) As soon as the aircraft passes the cloud, the charges redistribute themselves to their original places. The electrons which moved to the bottom of the aircraft due to the presence of highly negatively charged cloud, return to their original places and neutralize the positive charge.