Coulombs Law

Dr. Arshad Javid

Electric Charge
History
600 BC Greeks first discover attractive
properties of amber when rubbed.
1600 AD Electric bodies repel as well as attract
1735 AD du Fay: Two distinct types of electricity
1750 AD Franklin: Positive and Negative Charge
1770 AD Coulomb: Inverse Square Law
1890 AD J.J. Thompson: Quantization of
electric charge - Electron

Electric Charge
The Transfer of Charge
SILK

Glass Rod

Some materials attract electrons

more than others.

Electric Charge
The Transfer of Charge
+ -

SILK

Glass Rod

As the glass rod is rubbed against silk,

electrons are pulled off the glass onto the silk.

Electric Charge
The Transfer of Charge
+
+ -

SILK

Glass Rod

Usually matter is charge neutral, because the number of

electrons and protons are equal. But here the silk has an
excess of electrons and the rod a deficit.

Electric Charge
The Transfer of Charge
+
+ - +
+ +

SILK

Glass Rod

Glass and silk are insulators:

charges stuck on them stay put.

Two types of charge:

Positive Charge: A shortage of electrons.

Negative Charge: An excess of electrons.

Conservation of charge The net charge of a

closed system remains constant.

 All ordinary matter contains both

positive and negative charge.
You do not usually notice the charge
because most matter contains the
exact same number of positive and
negative charges.
An object is electrically neutral when
it has equal amounts of both types of
charge.

Electric Charge
Electric charge is a property of tiny particles in
atoms.
The unit of electric charge is the coulomb (C).
A quantity of charge should always be identified
with a positive or a negative sign.

Electric Charge

Two positively charged rods

repel each other.

Electric Forces
Like Charges - Repel
F

Unlike Charges - Attract

The forces between the two kinds of charge

can be observed with an electroscope.

Charge is quantized
Banjmin franklins give idea of charge
is quantized. Air , water not
continous but consist of no of atoms
molecules. Not continous. Electrical
fluids not continous but made up of
multiple of certain elementary
charge.

Charge is conserved

Coulomb's Law
The force between two charges gets stronger as the
charges move closer together.
The force also gets stronger if the amount of charge
becomes larger.

Coulomb's Law
The force between charges is
inversely proportional to the
square of the distance
between them.
Doubling the distance reduces
the force by a factor of 22 =
(4), decreasing the force to
one-fourth its original value
(1/4).
This relationship is called an
inverse square law because
force and distance follow an
inverse square relationship.

Coulombs Law Gives the electric

force between two point charges.

q1q2
F k 2
r

Inverse Square
Law

k = Coulombs Constant = 9.0x109 Nm2/C2

q1 = charge on mass 1
q2 = charge on mass 2
r = the distance between the two charges
The electric force is much stronger than the
gravitational force.

F kq1q2 /r

b) Units

Definecoulomb(C)asthequantityofchargethat
producesaforceof9x109Nonobjects1mapart.

9 10 N k(1C) /(1m)
9
2
9 10 N kq1q2 /r
9

F kq1q2 / r

k 9 10 N
9

 For practical reasons, the coulomb is defined using current and

magnetism giving

k = 8.988 x 109 Nm2/C2

Permittivity of free space

1 q1q2
F
2
4 0 r
Then

1
0
8.84 1012 C 2 /Nm2
4 k

Coulombs Law
q1
r12

q2

F12

r12

kq1 q2
F 12
2 r12
r12

Force on 2
due to 1

k = (40)-1 = 9.0 x 109

Nm2/C2
= permitivity of free
spacethe interaction between bodies due to their charges
Coulombs law describes
= 8.86 x 10-12 C2/Nm2

d) Superposition of electric forces

Net force is the vector sum of forces
from each charge
F3

q1
q2

q3

F2
F1

Netforceonq:F=F1+F2+F3

F
F
41F
2
1
31F
F
F
1
21
31
41
Coulombs Law

Force from many charges

Q1

Q2

Principle of
superposition

Force on charge is vector sum of

forces from all charges

Q4

Q3

Coulombs Law
Superposition
The electric force on one charge due to two or more other charges
is the vector sum of each individual force

Spherical charge distributions

A spherical distribution of charge, when viewed from outside,
behaves the same as an equivalent charge at the center of the
sphere.

6) Electric Field

F
E
q0
Units:N/C

Electric Field

Definition:
The electric field E that exists at a point is the electrostatic force F
experienced by a small test charge q0 placed at that point divided by the
charge itself.

F
E
q0

(SI unit:
N/C)

Direction of electric field

- A positive charge experiences a force in the direction of E
- A negative charge experiences a force in the opposite direction of E

Electric Field
Magnitude of the electric charge
due to a point charge

q
Ek 2
r
Direction:
If the charge q is
positive, the field points
radically outward
If the charge q is
negative, the field points
radically inward

Example 1
Two charges are separated by a distance r and have a force
F on each other.
qq

F k

1 2
2

q2

q1

r
If r is doubled then F is :

of F

If q1 is doubled then F is :

2F

If q1 and q2 are doubled and r is halved then F is : 16F

m1m2
Fg G 2
r

6.67 10

11

(.04)(.04)
(0.5) 2

4.27 10

q1q2
FE k 2
r
6
6
9 (3 10 )(3 10 )
9.0 10
2
(0.5)

13

0.324 N

The electric force is much greater than the

gravitational force

Gravitational and Electric Forces

in the Hydrogen Atom
M
+e

r12

-e
m

Gravitational force

m = 9.1 10-31 kg
M = 1.7 10-27 kg
r12 = 5.3 10-11 m
Electric Force

Gravitational and Electric Forces

in the Hydrogen Atom
M
+e

r12

-e
m

Gravitational force

Mm
Fg G 2 r
r12
Fg = 3.6 10-47 N

m = 9.1 10-31 kg
M = 1.7 10-27 kg
r12 = 5.3 10-11 m
Electric Force

Gravitational and Electric Forces

in the Hydrogen Atom
M
+e

r12

-e
m

Gravitational force

Mm
Fg G 2 r
r12
Fg = 3.6 10-47 N

m = 9.1 10-31 kg
M = 1.7 10-27 kg
r12 = 5.3 10-11 m
Electric Force

Fe

1 Qq
2 r
40 r12

Fe = 3.6 10-8N

Example: Coulomb force vs gravity for

electrons
m,e
m,e
Fg

FC=ke2/r2
Ratio:

FC

FN=Gm2/r2
19 2

FC
ke
(9 10 )(1.6 10 ) N

2
FN Gm
(6.7 10 11)(9.11031) 2 N
2

4 10

42

Fields and forces

Mass creates a gravitational field
that exerts forces on other masses.

Fields and forces

The concept of a field is used to
describe any quantity that has a
value for all points in space.
You can think of the field as the way
forces are transmitted between
objects.
Charge creates an electric field that
creates forces on other charges.

b) Field due to a point charge

q0

Q
r

Coulombslaw:
ElectricField:

r r
E//
F

Qq0
Fk 2
r

Q
E F /q0 k 2
r
directionisradial

r kQ

E 2 r
r

c) Superposition of electric fields

Net field is the vector sum of fields from each
charge
E3

q1
q2

q3

E2
E1

NetfieldatP:E=E1+E2+E3

7) Electric Field Lines

(lines of

force)
a) Direction of force on positive
charge

radialforpointcharges
outforpositive(begin)
infornegative(end)

b) Number of lines proportional

to charge
Q

2Q

c) Begin and end only on charges;

never cross
E?

d) Line density proportional to

field strength
Linedensityatradiusr:
N
1
Numberoflines

2 2
4r
r
areaofsphere

Linesofforcemodel<==>inversesquarelaw

8) Applications of lines-of-force
model
a) dipole

b) two positive charges

c) Unequal charges

d) Infinite plane of charge

+
E
+

+ +
+
+ +
+
+ +
+ q,A
+

Bycomparisonwiththe
fieldfromapointcharge,
wefind:

Fieldisuniformandconstantto?,
inbothdirections
Electricfieldisproportionaltotheline
density,andthereforetothecharge
density,=q/A

E
2 0

e) Parallel plate capacitor

compared toEthe size)
+

EL=0

+
+
+

E+
E

E=2E+

Stronguniformfieldbetween:
Fieldzerooutside

(assume separation small

E+

ER=0

E / 0

f) Spherically symmetric charge

distribution

Symmetry==>radial
numberoflinesprop.tocharge

+
+

Outsidethesphere:

r kq

E 2 r
r

asthoughallchargeconcentratedatthe
centre(likegravity)

9) Electric Fields and

Conductors
Excess charge resides on
surface at equilibrium
Fieldinsideiszeroateqm;
chargesmoveuntil|E1|=|E2|

E1

E1
E2