electroscope
1
9.6
- noun
- /ɪˈlɛktrəˌskoʊp/
- Specialized
:
electroscopio
- An electroscope is used to detect if an object has an electric charge by observing the movement of its gold leaves.
Examples
-
Dr. Richards took it from Greg, turned to the cameras, and said, "An electroscope detects the presence of a static electrical charge."
Fiction book (1998) -
No matter how well they made their electroscopes and no matter how good the insulation, the electric charge continued to leak away, even when there was no obvious nearby source of X-rays or radioactivity.
Academic text (1990) -
So we can see the the two leaves of this electroscope have been deflected because they've been charged up.
-
When cathode rays passed onto the inner cylinder, an electroscope attached to the inner cylinder showed the presence of a negative electrical charge.
Academic text (1997) -
To reduce the effect of local sources of radiation, electroscopes were carried to the tops of tall buildings and even up the Eiffel Tower.
Academic text (1990) -
In the early instruments, called electroscopes, two very thin gold leaves were suspended from a common point and hung close together inside an insulated container.
Academic text (1990) -
More strenuous efforts reduced the rate of leakage but could not completely eliminate it—not even when the electroscope was surrounded by more than two inches of lead shielding.
Academic text (1990) -
The physicist demonstrated how the electroscope could show the strength of an electric charge through the divergence of the leaves.
-
In science class, we learned that an electroscope detects electric charges by measuring how far the gold leaves spread apart.
How Sensitive
- Specialized
1
9.2
- Specialized
1
9.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Electroscope comes from the Greek parts electron 'amber', the old word linked to 'electric', and -scope 'to look', the same root you see in telescope. So an electroscope is literally a 'look at electricity', which fits because it shows whether an object has electric charge.