Coulomb's
Experiment
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According to Yu A. Lyubimov, Coulomb's main experiment which involved the torsion balance had produced some never-before-seen results in his time: "[Coulomb] had obtained some remarkable results by using the torsion balance method: laws of attraction adn repulsion, the electrom point charges, magnetic poles, distribution of electricity on the ground surface of charged bodies and others." |
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Here is a video demonstrating Coulomb's experiment in detail and how he obtained his calculations. |
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The
Torsion Balance
The
torsion balance apparatus contains several parts
but is relatively
easy to replicate in order to reproduce Coulomb's experiment. The top of the balance is a suspension head which is attached to a fiber that hangs through a column and hangs inside a lower glass cylinder. On this cylinder a paper scale marks the angular position. One of the charges is placed on a small conducting sphere that is able to transfer its charge through an opening at the top of the lower glass cylinder. The second charge is on a second conducting sphere placed inside the lower glass cylinder and is suspended from the fiber at a balanced crossbar. |
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