Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________

Student Exploration: Charge Launcher

Vocabulary: attract, electrostatic force, negative charge, positive charge, repel

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. Suppose you rolled a metal ball across a perfectly flat table. What kind of path would the ball
take, straight or curved?
It would take a straight path
2. Suppose you held a magnet near the ball as it was rolling. How would the magnet affect the
path of the ball?
If the metal ball and magnet had unlike charges, the metal ball would take a curved
path because unlike charges attract, but if they had like charges they’d repel, and the
metal ball would go the opposite direction of the magnet. Either way the path the metal
ball would take would be curved.

Gizmo Warm-up
The Charge Launcher Gizmo shows how charged particles interact. Like magnets, tiny charged
particles can either attract (pull together) or repel (push apart) each other.

1. The red particles have positive charge. Click Launch to launch a red (positively charged)
particle. Describe the path of the particle.
I placed the red particle on the upper left side of the grid, when I launched the particle, it
took a slightly curved path downwards.

2. The blue particles have negative charge. Drag one of these onto the grid. This particle is
fixed, which means it is attached to the grid. Click Launch. What happens now?
(I left the red particle on the grid) I placed the blue particle on the upper right side of the
grid, when I launched the particle it took the same path downwards, but at the very end it
curved upwards.

2. Drag several particles onto the grid. Try to make the most
interesting path you can.
 Change the speed of the particle with the Launch
speed menu.
 You can drag either a red particle or a blue particle
into the launcher.

To take a snapshot of an interesting path, click the camera

2018
2018
 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:  Remove all the particles from the grid.
 Drag a positively charged (red) particle into the
Attract or repel?
launcher.
 Set Launch speed to Medium.

Question: Charges can cause electrostatic forces. How do these forces affect the paths
of launched particles?

1. Observe: Experiment with the Gizmo to determine the answer to the above question.

2. Form hypothesis: Answer the following questions based on your observations:

A. How does a fixed red particle affect the path of a moving red particle?
In my hypothesis, the red particle will repel the particle, so the path the particle takes
would be curved downwards
B. How does a fixed blue particle affect the path of a moving red particle?
In my hypothesis, the blue particle will attract the particle, so the path the particle takes would
be curved upwards

3. Predict: Based on your hypothesis, predict the path of the launched particle on each grid
below. Draw your predicted paths using dashed lines. Label each path “Predicted” or “P”.

4. Run Gizmo: Test your predictions using the Gizmo. Record the actual path on each grid with
a solid line. Label these paths “Actual” or “A”.

5. Draw conclusions: Fill in each blank below with either “repelled by” or “attracted to.”

A. Positively charged objects are attracted to negatively charged objects.

2018
B. Positively charged objects are repelled by positively charged objects.

2018
 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity B:  Remove all the particles from the grid.
 If needed, drag a red particle into the launcher.
Match that path!
 Set Launch speed to Slow.
 Turn on Show challenge.

Goal: Use fixed particles to make a launched particle follow a given path.

1. Run Gizmo: Your goal is to match the gray path. In this challenge you are allowed to use
one red particle. Place this particle where you think it should go and press Launch.

2. Observe: Were you close? I was closer than i predicted

3. Revise: Change the position of the particle on the grid, and click Launch again. Keep trying
until you match the path perfectly. Take a snapshot and paste it into a document.

4. Apply: Click New challenge for new paths. Do your best to match them.
 The challenges get harder as you go. You may need to try different launch speeds.
 Some challenges require three or more fixed particles. These are almost impossible
to match exactly. Just get as close as you can.
 Take a snapshot at the end of each challenge. Paste these into your document.

2018
5. Challenge yourself: Press Reload or Refresh on your browser to restart the Gizmo. Turn on
Show challenge and drag a negatively charged (blue) particle into the launcher. Complete
the challenges while launching blue particles, and paste snapshots into your document.

6. Analyze: How do the grids you made while launching red particles compare to the grids you
made while launching blue particles? Explain why this makes sense.
When I would put red particles, the trail would repel and curve in the other direction
of the red particle, but when I used blue particles, the trail was attracted to it and
would curve in the direction of the blue particle. This is because like forces repel
(+’ve +’ve) and unlike forces attract (-‘ve –‘ve).
7. Extend your thinking: Forces between charged particles can be compared to magnetic
forces. The north pole of one magnet is attracted to the south pole of another magnet. North
poles are repelled by other north poles, and south poles are repelled by south poles.

How are charged particles similar to the poles of magnets?

An example of them being similar is when you put a negatively charged particle (blue) beside a
positively charged particle (red), the particle trail will repel against the red
particle because the trail is positively charged and like forces repel, the same goes
for the poles of magnets. So, if you took out the red particle, the trail would be
attracted to the blue particle and would lean into the direction of it.

2018