Parallel Plate Capacitor - Dielectric Oscillator

[connorb1542]

In my high school calculus-based electricity class two students and I are trying to create a demo where we set up a parallel plate capacitor and have some dielectric material inside it that we can pull out slightly, and have it oscillate into and out of the capacitor.

Some ideas we have already:
Two aluminum plates hooked up to a battery as our capacitor
Styrofoam as dielectric material (lightweight)
Maybe use some string to make it like a pendulum?

Any ideas or advice on how to construct would be greatly appreciated

 

[MagnetDave]

Styrofoam has a dielectric constant that is very close to 1 (being a large volume fraction air). So, it really won't do much. Most plastics have dielectric constants between 2 and 5, so I would recommend something more interesting. ceramics can be more interesting, as could ice.

Second item: be sure to calculate the capacitance of your capacitor. You really want the thinnest gap you can manage.

 

[connorb1542]

The thing with ceramics and similar substances is that I'm afraid they'll be too heavy to oscillate.

 

[connorb1542]

Also, what is a good capacitance to shoot for- that is, the one that would yield the best results? Is the nanofarad range a good goal?