Experimental apparatus for teaching electrostatic topics: the electroscope with field-effect transistor

Abstract

Regular school labs lack experiments that can properly identify many of the phenomena present in the electrostatic study. This paper proposes the implementation of a new kind of simple experimental apparatus for teaching topics in this area of physics, consisting of an electroscope kind that uses the field-effect transistor for detecting electric charges coming from electrified bodies. An explanation is given on the principles that makes this type of transistor an effective device due to its high sensitivity to electrostatic fields, as well as an analysis of the usefulness of this project for viewing many peculiar phenomena, such as polarization and induction. Based on this, we propose some simple activities that can be done in the classroom to involve students in the initial subject of electrostatics. We expect that this form of teaching along with experimental and explanatory approach of the phenomena in the classroom can bring to students a better learning of these concepts, demonstrating the utility of experimentation on teaching electrostatics.