How Can You Measure Electrostatic Charge in a DIY Experiment?

[at97647340]

Hello, I needed some help for my physics homework. The aim is to design an experiment that answers the question: Is the number of rubs of a piece of mica (that bag where you put documents to file them or to protect them, often made of plastic. Here is a Pic: http://images.segundamano.com.mx/2011/03/01/6057833/19405116.jpg ) against a piece of wool directly proportional to the charge that it gains? The only thing I'm missing is a way to measure the charge, Could you give me a hand?
Sincerely Gabriel De la Torre

 

[rude man]

Don't know if this would be sufficiently sensitive, but:
get an oscilloscope with a high input impedance (standard probes are Z = 10MΩ), charge your mica, set the sweep speed to something like 1 us/division, and record the trace: it should look like V₀e^-t/RC where R = 'scope input Z, C = capacitance between your mica and ground; then V₀ = Q/C where Q is the charge you initially put on the mica. All units SI.

You find RC at the time point when the voltage is about 0.37V₀.

Example: Z = 10MΩ, C = 1 pF, then RC = 10us = t at 0.37V₀, and then Q = 1e-12/V₀.

What I don't have a good feel for is how much charge you can get onto the mica. In order for the above to be feasible you would need V₀ at least 10 mV (probably; depends on your scope sensitivity), so 1e-2V = Q/1e-12F or Q should be at least about 1e-14 C. That's about 62,000 electrons.




Good luck!