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The students should understand electric field lines

Experiments

Here are experiments our science specialists have selected to support this IB* topic.

Mapping Electric Potential

Experiment #8 from Advanced Physics with Vernier — Beyond Mechanics

In this experiment, you will

  • Measure the electric potential at locations on a conducting surface resulting from various distributions of electric charge.
  • Use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and the electric potential data to generate 2-D and 3-D maps of electric equipotentials.
  • Analyze the maps of electric potential to sketch lines representing the electric field produced by electric charge.
  • Describe how the field from lines of charge differs from that produced by point sources.

Educational Standard
International Baccalaureate (IB) 2025
Subject
Physics
Theme
D Fields
Topic
D.2 Electrical magnetic fields
Level
Standard level and higher level

* The IB Diploma Program is an official program of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) which authorizes schools to offer it. The material available here has been developed independently of the IBO and is not endorsed by it.

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