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Gold Leaf Electroscope.
The electroscope is a very very
thin piece of gold foil (called gold
leaf)
fixed at the top to a piece of copper.
The copper has a large round
top, called the cap.
The whole thing is put inside a
glass case,
to stop air blowing the
delicate gold
leaf around.
The piece of copper goes through insulation in the
top of the glass
case,
so that any charge on the gold
leaf cannot escape.
Charge can be transferred to the electroscope
by wiping the charged object across the cap.
The charge flows over the conducting
copper and gold,
and the gold leaf rises as it is
repelled
by having the same charge as the
copper.
Headings Electrostatic
Charge Search Questions 
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Copyright © 2008 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.