Read Charging Objects by Conduction
To learn more about this phenomenon, read "Charging Objects by Conduction" on page 519.


You can see how an electroscope can be charged by conduction by using the interactive below.

Choose either a positive or negative rod, touch the top of the electroscope and observe what happens.


Electroscope Interactive



Charging by Conduction: the process of charging an object by transferring electrons from one object to another by touching the objects together.


Use the idea of conduction to explain what happens when you get a shock from a doorknob after acquiring excess electrons from scuffing your feet across a floor.

This is an example of conduction because electrons are transferred from your negatively charged fingertips to the neutrally charged doorknob as soon as you establish contact.


Explain what occurs when a positively charged object is touched to the knob of a neutral electroscope.

When a positively charged object is touched to the knob of a neutral electroscope, some of the electrons within the electroscope are attracted to the positive object. After the electrons transfer from the electroscope to the positively charged object, the electroscope is left positively charged. Since each of the leaves is now positively charged, the leaves repel one another and diverge.