What is Electrostatic induction: Definition and 25 Discussions

Electrostatic induction, also known as "electrostatic influence" or simply "influence" in Europe and Latin America, is a redistribution of electric charge in an object, caused by the influence of nearby charges. In the presence of a charged body, an insulated conductor develops a positive charge on one end and a negative charge on the other end. Induction was discovered by British scientist John Canton in 1753 and Swedish professor Johan Carl Wilcke in 1762. Electrostatic generators, such as the Wimshurst machine, the Van de Graaff generator and the electrophorus, use this principle. Due to induction, the electrostatic potential (voltage) is constant at any point throughout a conductor. Electrostatic Induction is also responsible for the attraction of light nonconductive objects, such as balloons, paper or styrofoam scraps, to static electric charges. Electrostatic induction laws apply in dynamic situations as far as the quasistatic approximation is valid. Electrostatic induction should not be confused with Electromagnetic induction.

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  1. Zahid Iftikhar

    B Can electrons pass through a positively charged disc in electrostatic induction?

    My explantion of this electrostatic induction is that if the disc of electroscope is ground, electrons will flow from the ground and neutralize the disc, leaving the electroscope negatively charged after removal of the ground, but the book says it should be postively charged. As per book, the...
  2. V

    How does the electroscope lose electrons to the Earth?

    I get step 1, in which due to electrostatic induction the top part of electroscope gets positively charged while the leaves of electroscope become negatively charged. Now if we Earth the positively charged end of electroscope as shown in step 2, then electrons must flow from Earth to...
  3. A

    B Problems I Have With Electrostatics and Pith Ball Experiments

    As a preliminary note, most people flex about how dumb questions and then continue to school and scold curious minds. Instead of taking a demeaning approach I just ask for respectful insight to quench curiosity. I will 1) explain the experiment as I know it to be, 2) explain what I have been...
  4. V

    A simple question in Electrostatics -- The separation of two balls in an Electric Field

    I used the concept of electrostatic induction, which would cause the charges in metal ball near the ebonite rod to have +ve charges on end next to rod and a -ve charge on the end touching the other ball. What confuses me is how charges separate on the second ball. The only way these balls can...
  5. R

    Electrostatic Induction in Metals vs Insulators

    If we have a small dielectric sphere and a point charge, they will experience an attractive force due to electrostatic induction. (From the elongation/rotation of charges bound to individual atoms). Likewise, if we have a small metallic sphere and a point charge, they will experience an...
  6. S

    How to calculate the induced charge in an electric field

    Maybe I should use this?
  7. A

    Electrostatic induction in different size spheres

    if we have a charged sphere with charge Q and radius r, the voltage on it's surface is calculated by gauss's law, what if we approach to it another sphere with radius R , R>r, Earth it, remove earth, basically charging by induction, will the sphere have the same charge, which means less voltage...
  8. S

    Electrostatic Induction: Conductor vs. Dielectric Response Time

    Do electrostatic fields induce charges on conductor surfaces faster than dielectrics respond to an identical field?
  9. E

    Electrostatic induction - rod and sphere

    Homework Statement Hi all, need a little help on an electrostatic induction problem. A positively charged metal rod is brought near to a neutral metal sphere. What is the charge of the metal sphere and the rod when the positively charged rod touches the neutral sphere. Homework Equations...
  10. R

    Some Qustions of Electrostatic Induction

    Hi Q 1 An electrified rod attracts pieces of paper. After a while these papers fly away. Why? My Answer: Due to the phenomenon of electrostatic induction, the paper becomes charged and will be attracted towards the rod. After some time, the charge becomes neutral and paper flies. Q...
  11. B

    Is the charge induced on a conductor equal to or less than the inducing charge?

    electrostatic induction... when a conductor is charged by the method of induction,is its charge equal in magnitude to that of inducing charge or somewhat less?
  12. D

    Can a Highly Charged Rod Strip All Electrons from Aluminum Foil?

    Homework Statement If there is a positively charged rod,which is placed near an aluminium foil,free electrons in the foil are pulled towards the rod.This makes the top end of the foil negative and leaves the bottom end short of electrons to become positive. I wonder if the rod has a very...
  13. M

    Voltage due to electrostatic induction

    Hello All, I have an arcane curiosity that cannot be answered anywhere I look (including Griffiths' intro electrodynamics book and the internet). This question seems so simple but I may just be over-thinking it. If there are two square, parallel, finite, conducting plates and a point...
  14. W

    Electrostatic Induction and Spray Painting

    Hi, What is the charge on a droplet of paint? Im trying to understand what's going on in electrostatic spray painting - specifically at the spray nozzle (this could also be crop spraying too) My understanding so far is that a paint supply is fed into a grounded nozzle. An electrode...
  15. P

    Electrostatic induction in Solutions?

    I was wondering if induction can apply to different chemical solutions. Take HCl for example. If a negatively charged rod were placed against the beaker in which HCl was held, would the H+ ions be pulled towards the rod. Would the same outcome appear in a neutral solution of NaCl (drawing the...
  16. H

    Electrostatic induction in a conductor should be immpossible

    i can't grasp the idea that how is electrostatic induction possible in a conductor. for example, if a negatively charged strip is brought near a metal conductor, the electrons will be repelled to the further end of the conductor thus making the end near the charged rod positively charged...
  17. R

    Electrostatic Induction / Conduction Question

    So, when I was learning about static electricity and induction and conduction, there were several labs done where a pith ball or electroscope could be manipulated through induction when a charged object was placed near it. In the case of the little pith ball, a negatively charged piece of PVC...
  18. U

    Interesting question about electrostatic induction

    A conductive plate with no initial charge is put between two identical positevily charged plates. Is it possible that the plate which is put between those two plates configures a situation where the net force acting upon each plate is zero? (the third plate could have different dimensions then...
  19. T

    Does a Positively Charged Ball Attract a Neutral Metal Ball?

    Homework Statement When a positively charged ball is brought near a neutral conductor(a light metal ball), will the metal ball be attracted towards the charged ball? Homework Equations This is electrostatic induction. The Attempt at a Solution Like a charged rod can attract the...
  20. L

    Electrostatic induction (can someone check my answer?)

    Homework Statement Three identical metal spheres are supported on three insulating stands.A charge q is given on the first sphere .The first sphere is then momentarily touched with the second sphere and then the second sphere is momentarily touched with the third. Finally the third sphere is...
  21. G

    Electrostatic induction in a conductor

    Two aluminium plates, each 150 x 150mm, were separated by 100mm to create a form of parallel-plate capacitor. A DC voltage of 300 volts was connected across the plates to create a (fairly) linear electric field of approximately 3000 V/m between them. An insulated conductor was bent into a U...
  22. G

    Electrostatic induction in a conductor

    Two aluminium plates, each 150 x 150mm, were separated by 100mm to create a form of parallel-plate capacitor. A DC voltage of 300 volts was connected across the plates to create a (fairly) linear electric field of approximately 3000 V/m between them. An insulated conductor was bent into a U...
  23. S

    Concentric spheres and electrostatic induction

    Homework Statement There's three thick, conducting concentric spheres with radii R1, R2, R3 (R1 < R2 < R3) with charge Q1, Q2, Q3 respectively. a.- The middle one is now wired to the ground. Find its net charge b.- The internal and external spheres are now wired. Find the distribution of all...
  24. D

    Lenz's Law and counter torque in relation to electrostatic induction

    All right, I was just wandering about something. First, when we have a electric generator, than the rotor in it will rotate easily until current is drawn from it, correct? In other words, counter torque won't be produced until current is drawn. If this isn't true, than just stop reading the...
  25. J

    Electrostatic induction with planes -

    Homework Statement Two large plane parallel conducting plates are connected by a wire and are a distance D apart in a vacuum. A point charge +q is placed in the space between them and a disstance b (<D) from one of them. What proportion of the charge +q is induced on each of the two plates...
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