Lab Instructions
Module Six Lab Activity
Electrostatic Force – A Virtual PhET Lab
After completing this lab activity, the students should be able to:
• Conduct an experiment to determine the Electrostatic Force
• Calculate electrostatic force
• Write a lab report
Lab Report
The lab report must include the following:
• Title
• Introduction
• Experimental Details or Theoretical Analysis
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions and Summary
• References
Please visit the following website to learn more about lab reports:
ACS Format for Laboratory Reports
An example of a lab report is given on the following website:
Professor K – sample lab report
Lab Activity
Please follow the steps given below to conduct the experiment:
• This lab requires you to produce a lab report to determine “The Electrostatic Force.” This is
the “Title” of your lab report.
• Read the relevant chapter on electrostatic force and add an “Introduction.”
You conduct this lab by connecting to the PhET website by clicking on the link given below
(or where applicable through the embedded simulation on the lab page):
Charges and Fields
Attribution:
PhET Interactive Simulations
University of Colorado Boulder
https://phet.colorado.edu
(If you cannot use the above simulation or cannot get to the website by clicking on the link,
please copy and paste the link into your browser. If the simulation is not running, please
check if you have the latest Java, Adobe Flash, or HTML5 software [depending on the
simulated lab]. If you download the relevant software and attempt to run the simulation
and it is still not working, please call the IT helpdesk. It also could be that your computer
does not have sufficient space to run the simulation. Please check all the possibilities).
• Once you open the simulation, please check the boxes on the top right side. Also, note that you
have a measuring tape in the box on the right side. Now, you can use the charges at the
bottom of the simulation to conduct the lab scenarios given below. All movements and tools
you use in this simulated experiment will form the “Experimental Details” section of the lab
report. You must keep a record of all the values appearing on the screen as experimental
values for the scenario. These values also form part of the “Results” section of the lab report.
Now, complete the theoretical calculations. These calculated values also form
the “Results” section of the lab report.
• Now, you can complete the “Discussion” section of your lab report by comparing the values
and discussing any differences in the theoretical and experimental values and any other
information relevant to the experiment.
• Complete the lab report by adding a summary to the “Conclusion” section of your lab report.
• Submit the lab report to the relevant Canvas Dropbox
Please watch the following video to learn more about electrostatic forces:
Coulomb’s Law (video) | Static electricity | Khan Academy
Lab Scenario
1. Calculate the electrostatic force between +1nc and -1nc charges at a distance of
10 cm from each other. Do not forget to mention the direction of the force, too.
2. Calculate the electrostatic force between -1nc and -1nc charges at a distance of
10 cm from each other. Do not forget to mention the direction of the force, too.
3. Calculate the electrostatic force between +1nc and +1nc charges at a distance of
10 cm from each other. Do not forget to mention the direction of the force, too.
