GCSE Questions: Static Electricity
Q3.
(a) A student uses some everyday items to investigate static electricity.
Rubbing the plastic strip with the cloth causes the strip to become negatively charged.
(i) This happens because particles move from the cloth onto the plastic strip.
Name these particles.
electrons 
[1 mark]
(ii) Consider the charge on the cloth after the rubbing action.
Is this charge positive, negative or zero?
positive
[1 mark]
(iii) When the plastic strip is hung over the wooden rod, the two halves of the strip move equally away from each other.
What two conclusions should the student make about the forces acting on the two halves of the plastic strip?
The forces are equal and act in opposite directions
[2 marks]
(b) Electrical charges move more easily through some materials than through other materials.
Through which one of the following materials would an electrical charge move most easily?
[1 mark]
[Total 5 marks]
About this site
You are asked about the forces - not the charges! Answers with information about the charges will get no marks.
