Chapter 21 : Electric Charge
and Electric Field
1. Electric Charge
n Electric charge is a property of matter that can cause
attraction and repulsion.
n Charge is the source of electric force.
What is the source of gravitational force? ________
n An electron is defined as having a negative charge and
a proton is defined as having a positive charge.
n unit of charge: C (coulomb)
1 C is too much of charge. It is not practical.
nC (nano coulomb) or µC (micro coulomb) is more commonly used.
n Unit charge : e =1.602 ×10-19 C :
Minimum charge you can get
charge of proton : +e
charge of electron : -e
quantized: you cannot have 1.5 e or 2.4 e.
A Neutral atom has the same number of protons and
electrons.
n Excessive electron : negatively charged
n Excessive proton : positively charged
n Principle of charge conservation
The sum of all the electric charges in any closed system
is constant.
2. Conductors, Insulators, and
Induced Charges
n Conductor: An object or material in which charge can
flow relatively freely.
n Insulator: An object or material in which charge does not
flow freely.
n Ground: Charge flows from a charged object to a
ground, leaving the object neutral.
àA conducting wire connects the rod to the Earth
Induced Charges
Electric Force
n Electrostatic force: Attraction or repulsion due to electric
charge.
n Charges of the same sign ___________
repulsion ;
Attraction
charges of opposite sign ________
n Two charged objects exert equal but opposite forces on
each other. If they attract, they pull toward each other
with the same force. If they repel, they push against
each other with equal force.
3. Coulomb’s Law
n Coulomb’s Law : force between two point charges
qq
F = k 1 2 2 r̂ : vector quantity
where r
1
k= = 8.988 × 109 N ⋅ m2 C 2
4πε 0
ε 0 = 8.854 × 10−12 C 2 / N ⋅ m2 : electric permittivity
n If there are more than 1 charge, the total force acting on that charge
is the vector sum of the forces exerted by the individual charges
à Principle of Superposition of forces
n For both gravitational and electric force, the magnitude
of the force is proportional to the sources (m1m2 or q1q2)
and inverse proportional to the distance square.
It is called inverse square law.
n The gravitational force has only attraction, but the
electric force has both attraction and repulsion. This
makes the life more difficult.
n You always have to think about the direction of the
electric force.
Comparison of electric force and the
gravitational force
n For hydrogen atom, forces between the proton and the
electron
q Given
me= 9.11×10-31 kg, mp=1.67×10-27 kg
qe= - e = -1.6 ×10-19 C, qp= e = 1.6 × 10-19 C,
r = 0.53×10-10 m
q Gravitational force
Gme mp
FG = 2
= 3.61 × 10−47 N
r
Electric force FE
q
= 2.27 × 1039
kqe q p FG
FE = = 8.20 × 10−8 N
r2
• Example 2) q1= q2= 2.0 μC, Q= 4.0 μC. Find the electric force on Q
by q1 and q2.
q1
q2
4. Electric Field and Electric Forces
n Electric field
q An electric field describes the nature of the electric force that a
charge will encounter at a given location.
q Fields provide the model for forces acting at a distance.
n Electric Field : electric force
per unit charge
F
E=
q0
q Unit : N/C
q Direction : same direction as
that of the force for a positive
charge
q When you think unit charge, you
may think unit charge as a
charge of 1 C. (e.g. unit circle
means a circle of radius 1.)
n Electric Field : electric force per unit charge
F
E=
q
q Analogy to gravitational force
Mm
F = G 2 r̂ : gravitational force
r
n Gravitational Field : gravitational Force per unit mass
GM : gravitational field
g = 2 r̂
r
g = g = 9.8 m / s 2 : at the earth surface
n Electric field of a point charge
F 1 q
E= = r̂
q 4πε 0 r 2
n Electric field lines of a point charge
+q -q
Electric field lines of a point charge
n Electric field diagrams
n Electric field lines extends away from positive charge
and toward negative charge.
n Electric Field Lines of a charge and of multiple charges
n Direction of the electric field at any point is tangent to the
field line through that point.
n Field strength
The field lines are closer together in the near box than
they are in the far box, which means that the field is
stronger in the region defined by the box closer to the
negative charge
n Force between two charges vs
Force between electric field and charge
n Motion of charge in the electric field
• Example 3) Find the electric field at P due to point charge.
• Example 5) Two charges q1=-4.00 nC and q2=8.00 nC are separated
by a distant of 1.20 m. Find the position where the total electric field
due to the two charges equal to zero.
n Now, electric Force = charge × Electric Field
Felec = qE
q F
analogous to gravity: grav = mg
n electric field may take different forms (See Ch.22)
1 1
E∝ , , const.
r2 r
n Superposition of electric fields
E = E1 + E2 + E3 + E4 +
n Force and charge n Electric field and charge
E
Ftotal = ∑ Fn
n F = qE
Fn : individual coulomb force Now, the question is
E = ??
• Example 6) Electron in a uniform field. An electron is released from
rest at origin. Find
E=1000 N/C
a) acceleration of the electron
b) time to hit the bottom
c) the speed at the bottom
7. Electric Dipoles
n Electric dipole
a pair of point charges with equal magnitude and opposite
sign separated by a distance d.
q electric dipole moment (vector quantity):
magnitude : p=qd
direction : pointing from –q to +q
n For water, p=6.17×10-30 Cm, d=3.9×10-12 m
✦ Torque on a electric dipole
τ = p× E
n Electric dipole in the electric field
q the net force on the electric dipole is 0, but there is a torque that
tends to rotate in order to be parallel to the external electric field.
• Example 7) An electric dipole in a uniform electric field with
magnitude 5.0 x 105 N/C. The charges are ±1.6 x 10-19 C, separated
by 0.125 x 10-9 m. Find
a) electric dipole moment
b) magnitude and direction of the torque
