I. The plates of the electroscope open when a positively or negatively charged rod is brought closer to its tip due to polarization. Polarization is not a permanent charge; we are not charging the electroscope. When we approach the electroscope with a negatively charged rod, the electrons in the electroscope fall towards the leaves. This is due to the fact that similar charges repel each other. Now that both leaves are negatively charged, they will repel each other and therefore open. When we approach the electroscope with a positively charged rod, the electrons are attracted to the rod and rush towards the tip rather than the leaves of the electroscope. The protons are located in the nucleus and therefore cannot move. Thus, the leaves have a positive charge. The electroscope can be charged by conduction, also called contact. Through the process of conduction, a rod becomes charged and touches the tip of the electroscope. The rod can be rubbed around the tip of the electroscope. The rod is then removed and the tip is touched with a finger to observe the behavior of the leaves. When a charged rod touches a neutral electroscope, the electroscope will have the same charge as the rod. The electrons are shared between the rod and the electroscope. In a neutral electroscope there are the same amount of electrons and protons. When the electroscope comes into contact with a negatively charged rod, the electroscope will gain electrons, resulting in a net negative charge. When the electroscope comes into contact with a positively charged rod, it loses electrons, gaining a net positive charge. The electroscope can also be charged by induction. We charged the electroscope by induction by charging a charged rod and bringing it close to the tip of the electroscope, touching the tip with one of our fingers while holding the charged rod near the tip, and removing the rod. Since the rod does not touch the electroscope, polarization occurs. Our bodies can give and take electrons as the system needs. When we approach the electroscope with a positively charged rod, the system becomes polarized. Electrons rush towards the tip of the electroscope, so that the top is negatively charged and the bottom is positively charged. The electrons are held in place by the charging rod and our bodies provide electrons to neutralize the leaves. When we remove the rod, we are left with a negative charge even though the rod was initially positively charged, because the rod and the charged electroscope have opposite charges in induction. Compared to the charge of the charging body, the charge on a conducting electroscope is equal to the charge of the charging body. Compared to the charge on the charging body, the charge on an