Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I have half a week left to complete this project for Science Fair. I have major problem: I can't seem to discharge the Leyden Jar with the Aluminum sheet. PLEASE HELP!

ALS_aims - I'm not sure from your description exactly what part of the experiment is causing the problem. Make sure that you don't have a leakage path in the Leyden jar construction. The use of water inside the Leyden jar could leave moisture around the top of the jar that could discharge the system. When you charged the jar from the electrophorus did you notice signs of a discharge? Did you notice the buildup of charge on the acrylic sheet when you were creating a static charge? Perhaps if you check these simple steps you can let us know if that solves the problem. Otherwise send another note with your procedure steps and perhaps we can detect where the experiment is failing.

Rick Marz

I checked and I don't have a leakage path. When I charge the jar from the electrophorus I sometimes hear a zap. I don't think I noticed the buildup of charge on the acrylic sheet but very rarely I hear a pop or zap. Right now I am having trouble with the part "Measuring the Charge" where you measure how far from the aluminum sheet the jar discharged.

Hi!
sorry this will show as a reply i couldn't figure out where i could post a question. Anyway here is my question: My sop is does printed shape names interfere with the task of naming shapes and i can't think of what to write for my application!!! PLEASE HELP THE APPLICATION IS DUE IN 1 DAY!!!!

mayapanda-

Hi,

I hope I understand your question correctly, are you looking for examples of how your experiment might relate to real-world applications?
In your experiment, you got a chance to explore how words have an influence on someone's ability to to name shapes.
The link below has a couple theories on why words have an influence. The theories explain the stroop effect, but could also apply to naming shapes:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/words.html

One application could be in phychology. At the link below, in the "Uses" section, there is a desctiption of how the Stroop effect is used in pschycological tests and can help in diagnosis of psychiatric and neurological disorders:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroop_effect

Another application might relate to the field of human factors. One of the things that is explored in human factors is how to effectively communicate information. For example, you've probably noticed that stop signs are always the same shape, color, and have the word "Stop" written on them.

Also, to post a question instead of a reply:
You need to be in one of the forums, in this case you probably wanted "Grades 6-8: Life, Earth, and Social Sciences." Just click the button near the top of the page that says "New Topic" to post a question. You may want to post your question in that forum.

Good luck with your project!

kmyers2040- WOW! Thank you sooooo much for helping yes you understood my question correctly. Thank you for the links that was helpful. Also thank you for telling me how to post a question