Electricity and Charge: Understanding Attraction and Earthed Conductors

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the concepts of electricity and charge, specifically focusing on the behavior of conductors when influenced by an insulator and the effects of earthing.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the effects of an insulator on charge distribution in a conductor and question the implications of earthing. There is discussion about the behavior of charges when the insulator is removed and whether earthing has similar effects.

Discussion Status

The conversation includes various interpretations of the relationship between earthing and the removal of the insulator. Some participants provide affirmations to each other's statements, while others clarify the sequence of events regarding charge acquisition and redistribution.

Contextual Notes

There is an implied assumption that the conductor is earthed for a short time, which influences the understanding of charge behavior in the scenario presented.

Cici2017

Homework Statement



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Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution


I chose B because I thought the positive charges in the insulator would attract the negative charges in the conductor to one side. I do realize that it is earthed for a short time. What difference does it make?

Thank you
 
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What happens when "the insulator is removed"?
 
mjc123 said:
What happens when "the insulator is removed"?
The negative charges redistribute themselves evenly around the conductor?
 
Yes
 
mjc123 said:
Yes
Oh~so 'earthing' has the same effect as removing the insulator?
 
No. Earthing allows the (previously isolated) conductor to acquire a negative charge as a result of attraction from the positively charged insulator. Then the Earth is disconnected (the question doesn't say this explicitly, but it is implied in "earthed for a short time") and then the insulator is removed, and the negative charge is redistributed.
 
mjc123 said:
No. Earthing allows the (previously isolated) conductor to acquire a negative charge as a result of attraction from the positively charged insulator. Then the Earth is disconnected (the question doesn't say this explicitly, but it is implied in "earthed for a short time") and then the insulator is removed, and the negative charge is redistributed.
okay, so if the insulator was not removed, the answer would have been B?
 
Yes
 
mjc123 said:
Yes
Thank you so much!
 

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