Grass Seed Electric Field (5B10.40)

Description:

Most instructors start with the two round electrodes to show the field of an electric dipole.

Procedure or Operation Notes:

1) Stir the mineral oil to randomize the grass seed and then crank the Wimshurst Machine slowly. Less is actually better because a stronger field will cause the grass seed to clump together.

2) The second most common configuration is the parallel plate capacitor:

3) All of the electrodes are interchangeable, including sharp points, complete and broken rings.

4) Finally, other conductive objects can be placed in the mineral oil to show how they affect the electric field. Similar to the ring electrode above, the grass seed inside a copper cylinder is unaffected by the dipole electric field.