Answer to Question #91221 in Electricity and Magnetism for Gilary Lozano Lopez

Question

You have 2 metal spheres and want to charge them both with exactly equal amounts of a positive charge. You have only a negatively charged insulator, insulating gloves, and an insulating table to work with. You may use yourself as a ground if needed. Describe a method to charge the spheres.

Answer 1

Take one of the spheres using insulating gloves, bring negatively charged insulator near sphere. Charge on the sphere will be distributed: positive charge - near negative charged insulator, negative charge on the opposite side of the sphere.

Touch this sphere. You will be used as a ground. Therefore, only positive charge will be left on the sphere.

Take away negatively charged insulator. Then, bring the sphere into contact with another sphere. Thus, positive charge will be distributed equally among both spheres.