APPLIED PHYSICS (GSC-113)

(3+1)

Ch21. Coulombs Law

Faculty:
Bilal Muhammad Iqbal,
MS
Computer Sciences
Department,
Bahria University
(Karachi Campus)

Electric Charge
Static cling, an electrical phenomenon
that accompanies dry weather, causes
the pieces of paper to stick to one
another. This is an example that reveals
the existence of electric charge.
In fact, every object contains a vast
electricischarge.
amount
Electricof
charge
an intrinsic characteristic of the
fundamental particles making up those objects.
The vast amount of charge in an everyday object is usually
hidden because the object contains equal amounts of the two
kinds of charge: positive charge and negative charge.
With such a balance of charge, the object is said to be
electrically neutral (contains no net charge).
If the two types of charge are not in balance, we say that an

Electric Charge
Charged objects interact by exerting forces
on one another.
Charges with the same electrical sign repel
each other, while charge with opposite
electrical signs attract each other.
This rule will be described quantitatively as
Coulombs law of electrostatic force between
charges.
The term electrostatic is used to emphasize
that the charges are stationary relative to
each other.

Coulombs Law
If two charged particles are brought near each other, they
each exert a force on the other.
If the particles have the same sign of charge, they repel each
other. The force on each particle is directed away from the
other particle.
If the particles have opposite
signs of charge, they attract
each other. The force on
each particle is directed
toward the other particle.

Coulombs Law
This force of repulsion or attraction due to the charge
properties of objects is called an electrostatic force.
The equation giving the force for charged particles is called
Coulombs law, named after Charles-Augustin de Coulomb,
who did the experiments in 1785.
If particle 1 has charge q1 and particle 2 has charge q2, the
r
qparticle
1q2
force
on
F2 k
r12 2 is:

r
r12

The term r12 is a unit vector to the direction from position of q1

to position of q2. The term k is a constant.

1
k
8.99 109 N m 2 C 2
4 0
0 8.854 1012 C 2 (N m 2 )