Electrostatics
Electrostatics in Photocopiers
How does electrostatics work?
What is electrostatics?
Electrostatics in Photocopiers
The surface of the drum in the photocopier is positively charged. An intense beam of light moves over the original piece of paper that has been placed on the photocopier’s glass surface. The light will reflect off of the white parts of the paper and hit the drum underneath it. The light neutralizes the positive charges above. Dark areas such as the text do not reflect the light leaving some positive charges on the drum. The negatively charged toner spreads over the drum and stick to the positive charges. The positively charged paper attracts the toner as it passes over the drum. The toner is then fused with heat onto the paper’s surface creating the text or pictures on the photocopy.
Citations
“Applications of Electrostatics.” Mini Physics. Mantra and WordPress, 27 July. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.
France, Colin. “How does a Photocopier Work.” GCSE Physics. GCSE Physics, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2013.
How Stuff Works. How Stuff Works. D, 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2013.