Experiments to clear up a misconception that a magnet can affect the leafs of an electroscope simply by moving the magnetic field of the magnet close to the leafs. In this case a horseshoe magnet is used with a homemade electroscope with aluminum leafs. It's shown that the poles of the magnet don't matter and that the use of a piece of wood has the same affect as the magnet. The magnetic field has no affect.
To see how to make a simple DIY electroscope:
http://youtu.be/2PmWlPjV6n0
Inductively charging an electroscope:
http://youtu.be/-JsVZwc1dOo
More about magnetic fields:
http://youtu.be/iNapynf_7Uk
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