Question

What is an ebonite rod?

Answer 1

Hint: Ebonite is a special type of rod which is made up of hard rubber. Ebonite rods are generally used for various basic electrical experiments. We shall study how these ebonite rods are constructed from their native state and what are their electrical properties that make them so useful while performing an experiment.

Complete step-by-step solution:
Ebonite rods are made by vulcanizing naturally obtained rubber for a longer duration of times. This prolonged and enduring process causes the rubber to harden up, hence they fall under a class of hard rubbers.
In the process of manufacturing of Ebonite, the Sulphur content can be as high as 40% which makes it suitable to minimize dielectric losses. Now, we shall see the electrical properties of a well-constructed Ebonite rod.
An ebonite rod falls under the category of good insulator and thus poor conductor of electricity. This is because there are no electrons on the surface to allow the conduction of electricity. Also, the movement of electrons is restricted inside the volume of rod too, thus making it a poor conductor of electricity.
One of the most common experiments involving Ebonite rod, is the rubbing of the Ebonite rod with an animal skin. After rubbing the rod with the animal skin, the rod gets negatively charged whereas the animal skin gets positively charged.

Note: The term Ebonite used today is a brand name for a company which earlier used to produce the maximum amount of hard rubber. Also, ebonite rods were previously used in batteries, but due to its brittle nature, the Sulphuric acid leaked from the batteries and hence, over time, they were replaced by Carbon block rods.