Basic Electrostatics System
012–07227A
4
sphere and insulating rods should be kept free of dirt, grease, and fingerprints to
minimize leakage of charge from the sphere.
ES-9077 Electrostatics Voltage Source
The ES-9077 is a high voltage, low current power
supply designed exclusively for experiments in
electrostatics. It has outputs at 30 volts DC for
capacitor plate experiments, and 1 kV, 2 kV, and
3 kV for Faraday ice pail and conducting spheres
experiments. With the exception of the 30 volt output,
all of the voltage outputs have a series resistance
associated with them which limit the available short-
circuit output current to about 8.3 microamps. The 30
volt output is regulated, but is capable of delivering
only about 1 milliamp before falling out of regulation.
ES-9053A Resistor-Capacitor Network
Three resistors (50 M
!
, 100 M
!
, and 200 M
!
) and two
capacitors (0.47
"
F and .94
"
F) are wired into a switching
network which permits the components to be connected in
various configurations. The RC Network is designed for the
study of RC time constants and for investigating capacitors
connected in series and parallel (the RC time constants
range from 25 to 200 seconds). A third capacitor (0.22
"
F)
can be selected in series or parallel with the other two
capacitors.
On the front of the RC Network, a diagram shows the connection of the components.
The positions of the three slide switches indicate the exact components being used.
Figure 5 shows the front panel of the RC Network with the slide switches in various
positions. The three-position slide switch on the left has a very useful “Open” position. It
is often convenient to stop the charging process when making a measurement, and the
“Open” position permits the circuit to be disconnected from the power supply.
Five binding posts allow the voltage source and/or the electrometer to be connected to
components.
Figure 4. Electrostatics Voltage Source
Figure 5. RC Network
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IMPORTANT
: Never place more
than 50 VDC across any component
in the RC Network.
ground