Question

Describe with the help of a diagram an instrument which can be used to detect a charged body.

Answer 1

An electroscope can be used to detect whether a body is charged or not. The following figure shows a simple electroscope.

It consists of a metal rod. At one end of the rod, two leaves of aluminium foil are fixed and at the other end, there is a metal disc. The leaves of aluminium foil are placed inside a conical flask and the flask is corked to isolate the leaves from air.

When the metal disc is touched with a charged body, the aluminium strips move away from each other. This happens because some of the charges of the body are transferred to the strips through the metal rod. This method of charging a body is called charging by conduction. The nature of charges on both the leaves and the charged body are the similar. Hence, both the leaves of the aluminium foil will move away from each other. If the body was not charged, then the leaves of the foil would remain as they were before. They would not repel each other.