PHYSICS 2B

LECTURE 001

Electrostatics Page 1 of 20
 Electromagnetism
• Study of electric and magnetic interactions

• Composed of the following :

• Study of Electricity

• Study of Magnetism

• Study of the link between electricity and magnetism

Electrostatics Page 2 of 20
 Electron
• from Greek word, elektron which means "amber“

• Refers to negatively charged particles

• Designated using the letter e

• Opposite of which is the proton or positively charged

particles

Electrostatics Page 3 of 20
 Electrostatics
• study of properties and behavior of electric charges at
rest

• involves electric charges, the forces between them,

and their behavior in materials

Electrostatics Page 4 of 20
 Electric Charges
• Intrinsic property of matter

• 2 kinds of electric charges

• positive charges or protons
• negative charges or electrons

• Expressed using the parameter Q or q

• SI unit of charge Coulomb (C)

• 1 C = 6.24 x 1018 electrons

Electrostatics Page 5 of 20
 Properties of Electric Charges
• The electric charge does not depend on the motion of
the system.

• The most common situation in nature is that of

electrically neutral systems, in which the very large
number of positive and negative charges, charges
mutually cancel out.

Electrostatics Page 6 of 20
 Conservation of Charge
• The total net charge of an isolated system never
changes.

• Charge is neither created nor destroyed

• Electrons are simply transferred from one material to

another

• The net amount of electric charge produced in any

process is zero. If one region or object acquires a
positive charge, then an equal amount of negative
charge will be found in neighboring regions or objects.

Electrostatics Page 7 of 20
 Example
• Imagine you have a box full of electrons. If the box is
completely sealed up and insulated (as in a closed
system), none of the electrons could get out and no
foreign electrons could get in. So the electrons inside
the box would be conserved.

Electrostatics Page 8 of 20
 Example
• A negative helium atom has one extra electron. It has 5 charges, 2
protons and 3 electrons. What is its net charge?

Electrostatics Page 9 of 20
 Answer
• Given : no. of charges = 5
no. of protons = 2
charge of a proton = +1
no. of electrons = 3
charge of an electron = -1

• Required : net charge

• Solution :

2 (+1) + 3 (-1) = -1

• The two protons and three electrons would produce a net charge
of -1.

Electrostatics Page 10 of 20
 Atomic Structure of Matter
• Composed of the following :
• Nucleus
• Neutron (neutral particles)
• Protons

electron (-)
• Orbits
• Electrons

nucleus
(proton (+), neutron)
Electrostatics Page 11 of 20
 Atomic Structure of Matter…continued
• Naturally an atom has equal number of electrons and
protons and so is neutral.

Electrostatics Page 12 of 20
 Properties
• Electron
• Mass : 9.11 x 10-31 kg
• Charge : -1.6 x 10-19 C

• Proton
• Mass : 1.67 x 10-27 kg
• Charge : 1.6 x 10-19 C

• Neutron
• Mass : 1.67 x 10-27 kg
• Charge : None

Electrostatics Page 13 of 20
Ions
• A charged atom

• Produced by the process of charging (adding or removing electrons)

• 2 kinds of ions
• positive ion
• has a net positive charge
• occurs when there are fewer electrons than protons
• its classical definition is the charge accumulated by a glass rod rubbed with silk or
wool
• negative ion
• has a net negative charge
• occurs when there are more electrons than protons
• its classical definition is the charge accumulated by a hard, rubber rod rubbed with
fur
Electrostatics Page 14 of 20
 Quantization of Charge
• The smallest charge that a body can attain is that of the
fundamental charge of an electron or proton.

/e/ = 1.6 x 10-19 C

• The total charge that a body can attain is any integer

multiple of the fundamental charge
• Total charge of a body
• Q = ne

Where Q = total charge (C)

n = integer like + 1, +2 , +3
e = the fundamental charge
= 1.6 x 10-19 C

Electrostatics Page 15 of 20
 Example 1
• How many electrons must be added to a body to give
a net charge of –1 C?

Electrostatics Page 16 of 20
 Answer
• Given: Q = -1 C
e = - 1.6 x 10-19 C

• Required : no. of electrons

• Solution: Q = ne
n = Q/e
n = 6.25 x 1018 electrons

Electrostatics Page 17 of 20
 Example 2
• When two objects are rubbed together, 3.12*1011
electrons are transferred to one body. What is the
magnitude of the charge on the body?

Electrostatics Page 18 of 20
 Answer
• Given: n = 3.12 * 10 11
e = -1.6 x 10-19 C

• Required : total charge

• Solution: Q = ne
Q = (3.12*1011) (-1.6*10-19 C)
Q = 50 * 10-9 C

Electrostatics Page 19 of 20
 Fundamental Law of Electrostatics
• Charges with the same electrical sign repel.
• Charges with opposite electrical sign attract.
• In nature, unlike charges (like electrons and protons)
attract each other, and like charges repel each other.

Electrostatics Page 20 of 20
 Samples
Two positive charges will repel
each other.
+ +

Two negative charges will repel

each other.
- -

A positive charge and a negative

charge will attract each other.
+ -

Electrostatics Page 21 of 20
 Electric Conductivity
• relative mobility of free electrons within a material

• free electrons
• outermost electrons loosely bound to the atoms and are free to leave their
respective atoms and float around in the space between adjacent atoms

• Materials with high electric conductivity are called conductors.

• Materials with low electric conductivity are called insulators.
Electrostatics Page 22 of 20
Conducting and Non-conducting Materials
 Conductors
 Materials that permit electric charge to move easily from one region of the
material to another
 has high electron mobility (many free electrons)
 Insulators
 Materials that do not allow much movement of charge
 has low electron mobility (few or no free electrons)
 Semiconductors
 Materials that has varying conducting properties depending on the impurities
and the charges present on the material
 Superconductors
 Materials that become perfect conductors at extremely low temperatures

Electrostatics Page 23 of 20
Conducting and Non-conducting Materials

Electrostatics Page 24 of 20
 Conductors
• Some conductors are:
• silver
• copper
• gold
• aluminum
• iron
• steel
• brass
• bronze
• mercury
• graphite
• dirty water
• concrete
• metals

Electrostatics Page 25 of 20
 Insulators
• Some insulators are:
• glass
• rubber
• oil
• asphalt
• fiberglass
• porcelain
• ceramic
• quartz
• (dry) cotton
• (dry) paper
• (dry) wood
• plastic
• air
• diamond
• pure water

Electrostatics Page 26 of 20
 Charging
• process of giving electrically-neutral objects a net charge.
• Conduction
• Induction
• In this process, charge is neither created nor destroyed, but merely transferred from
one body to another.

• Principle of Conservation of Charge

• The algebraic sum of all electric charges in a closed system is constant.

• Electrically-neutral body
• A body with the same number of positive (protons) and negative (electrons)
charges
• Positively-charged body
• A body that has lost some of its electrons and now has a net positive charge.
• Negatively-charged body
• A body that has gained some electrons and now has a net negative charge.

Electrostatics Page 27 of 20
 Conduction
• Method of charging which involves making the physical
connection of the charged object to the neutral object.
• is often called charging by contact
• Results to two bodies with the same charge (i.e. both positive
or both negative)

Electrostatics Page 28 of 20
 Charging by Conduction
• Charging by conduction with a positively-charged body

Electrostatics Page 29 of 20
 Conduction
• Charging by conduction with a negatively-charged body

Electrostatics Page 30 of 20
 Induction
• Charging without contact
• Results to two bodies with opposite charge (i.e. one with
positive charge, the other with negative charge)

• Polarization
• the relative separation of positive and negative charges in a neutral body due to
the presence of a charged body

• Ground
• a large object which serves as an almost infinite source of electrons or a sink for
electrons

Electrostatics Page 31 of 20
 Charging by Induction
• Charging a neutral body by induction

Electrostatics Page 32 of 20
Coulomb’s Law
• Charles Augustin de Coulomb (1736-1806) studied in detail
the interaction forces of charged particles in 1784
• He found that
• For point charges
• Electrostatic force, F, is proportional to 1/r2
• F dependent on q1q2
• The magnitude of electrostatic force between two point charges is directly
proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them, or in mathematical terms

k q1q2 1 q1q2
F  
r2 4 0 r2
where
k = 8.987557787 x 109 N∙m2/C2 = 1/4πε0 is the proportionality constant
ε0=8.854 x 10-12 C2/N∙m2

Electrostatics Page 33 of 20
 Electrostatic Force
• Coulomb also found out that if two or more charges act on a
single point charge, the point charge experiences an
electrostatic force equal to the net force due to the other
charges

• Electrostatic force is a vector quantity whose direction is along

the line joining the point charge and it’s magnitude is given by
 k Q1Q2
F  ˆ
r
r2

F12 =F on Q1 due to Q2 F21 =F on Q2 due to Q1

Q1 Q2
r
Electrostatics Page 34 of 20
 Electrostatic Force
The direction of the electrostatic force depends on whether the force is
attractive or repulsive

• Attraction
F12 F21
Q1 -Q2
r

• Repulsion

F12 =F on Q1 due to Q2 F21 =F on Q2 due to Q1

Q1 Q2
r

Electrostatics Page 35 of 20
 Common Charge Configurations

Electrostatics Page 36 of 20
 Example 3
An electric dipole is placed on the x-axis, If the charges have
a magnitude of 3nC and -2nC and are separated by distance r
= 4.0cm, calculate the magnitude of the electrostatic force
between them.

3nC -2nC

r = 4.0cm

Electrostatics Page 37 of 20
Answer

Electrostatics Page 38 of 20
 Example 4
Three point charges are placed in a plane, as shown below.
Calculate the net electrostatic force on q3 due to the other
point charges if q1 = +1nC, q2 = -3nC and q3 = +2nC.

2nC

20cm

-3nC 1nC
20cm

Electrostatics Page 39 of 20
 Answer
• Solution
• First, we assign the axes: vertical as the y-axis and the horizontal as the x-axis.
• Next, we identify if the force exerted by each charge on q3 is attractive or
repulsive.
• Then we calculate the force exerted by each point charge on q3 and the net
electrostatic force using the component method of vector addition.

Electrostatics Page 40 of 20
 Answer

Electrostatics Page 41 of 20
 Answer

Electrostatics Page 42 of 20
 Example 5
Two identically charged balls are attached to an insulating string. If the balls
experience a 9.0 x 10-5 N force and are 2.0 cm apart, what is the magnitude of
the charge on each ball?

Electrostatics Page 43 of 20
 Answer

Electrostatics Page 44 of 20
 Answer

Electrostatics Page 45 of 20
 Example 6
Three point charges are arranged in a plane, as shown below. If q1 = q2 = +q
and q3 = -q, calculate the net electrostatic force on q3.

Electrostatics Page 46 of 20
 Answer

Electrostatics Page 47 of 20
 Answer

Electrostatics Page 48 of 20