Make Your Own Electric Field Demonstrator

To follow up on a recent post, I would like to include directions for teachers about how to create your very own Electric Field Demonstrator.

 Last winter, I gave a presentation on this topic at a Southern CA American Association of Physics Teachers meeting. The purpose of my presentation was the following: I have reviewed some of the methods surrounding the “Grass  Seeds in Mineral Oil” Electric Field Demonstration and am  advocating for a simpler, user-friendly, inexpensive method that  enables a more interactive and engaging demonstration. 

In the following ppt, I share the motivation for creating this demonstration, how to set up the demo, and teaching tips to make this demo easier for teachers to perform and share with students. 

http://www.physicsvideos.net/e-field-oil.pdf

The following supplies are needed:

• Lettuce Seeds (black, pointy)
• Vegetable Oil (yellow, like amber)
• Van de Graaff or Fun Fly Stick
• Microscope Cam & LCD Projector

Once again, this video shows the outcome.