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supported by the National Science Foundation
written by John Belcher
designer: Michael Danziger
This animation depicts a positively-charged particle repelled by the positively-charged sphere of a van de Graaff generator, a device that mechanically separates charge. The animation was designed to help students see that the Coulomb force is transmitted in a continuous manner (as observed between the van de Graaff sphere and the smaller particle). Although the two charges are not in direct contact with one another, they are in direct contact with a medium existing between them. The item may be viewed as a video or in stepped motion.

This item is part of a larger collection of visualizations developed by the MIT TEAL/Studio Physics Project to support an introductory course in electricity and magnetism.

See below for lecture notes that accompany this specific animation:
MIT Open Courseware: Coulomb's Law Lecture Notes

Please note that this resource requires Quicktime.
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Education Practices
- Technology
= Multimedia
Electricity & Magnetism
- Electric Fields and Potential
= Electric Field
= Electrostatic Potential and Potential Energy
- Electrostatics
= Coulomb's Law
- High School
- Lower Undergraduate
- Audio/Visual
= Movie/Animation
Appropriate Courses Categories Ratings
- Conceptual Physics
- Algebra-based Physics
- AP Physics
- Activity
- New teachers
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Intended Users:
Learner
Educator
Format:
video/quicktime
Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.
Rights Holder:
MIT Open Courseware (OCW): http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/terms/terms/index.htm
Keywords:
Coulomb, animation, charge separation, electric field, electrostatic generator, electrostatics video, field lines, grass seeds, statics, video
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created April 6, 2010 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:
April 15, 2010 by Caroline Hall
Last Update
when Cataloged:
May 2, 2008
Other Collections:

This resource is part of a Physics Front Topical Unit.


Topic: "Static" Electricity
Unit Title: Charge Interaction

This Quicktime video accompanies the item directly above. In this model, a positively-charged particle is shown being repelled by the positively-charged sphere of the van de Graaff generator. Both videos promote understanding of the Coulomb force by showing the electric field existing between the charges.

Link to Unit:
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Record Link
AIP Format
J. Belcher, (2004), WWW Document, (http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/VandeGraffRepel/VDGRepel.htm).
AJP/PRST-PER
J. Belcher, MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - A van de Graaff Generator Repelling a Charge (2004), <http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/VandeGraffRepel/VDGRepel.htm>.
APA Format
Belcher, J. (2008, May 2). MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - A van de Graaff Generator Repelling a Charge. Retrieved October 10, 2024, from http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/VandeGraffRepel/VDGRepel.htm
Chicago Format
Belcher, John. MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - A van de Graaff Generator Repelling a Charge. May 2, 2008. http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/VandeGraffRepel/VDGRepel.htm (accessed 10 October 2024).
MLA Format
Belcher, John. MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - A van de Graaff Generator Repelling a Charge. 2004. 2 May 2008. National Science Foundation. 10 Oct. 2024 <http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/VandeGraffRepel/VDGRepel.htm>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{ Author = "John Belcher", Title = {MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - A van de Graaff Generator Repelling a Charge}, Volume = {2024}, Number = {10 October 2024}, Month = {May 2, 2008}, Year = {2004} }
Refer Export Format

%A John Belcher %T MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - A van de Graaff Generator Repelling a Charge %D May 2, 2008 %U http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/VandeGraffRepel/VDGRepel.htm %O video/quicktime

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Belcher, John %D May 2, 2008 %T MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - A van de Graaff Generator Repelling a Charge %V 2024 %N 10 October 2024 %8 May 2, 2008 %9 video/quicktime %U http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/VandeGraffRepel/VDGRepel.htm


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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ.

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MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - A van de Graaff Generator Repelling a Charge:

Accompanies MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - A van de Graaff Generator Attracting a Charge

A companion Quicktime animation that depicts the opposite process: a negatively-charged particle being attracted to the sphere of a van de Graaff generator.

relation by Caroline Hall
Covers the Same Topic As Van de Graaff Generators: Construction & Demonstrations

A collection of activities and information on the van de Graaff generator, including plans for building your own.

relation by Caroline Hall

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