GENERAL PHYSICS 2

ELECTRIC FIELD ELECTRIC POTENTIAL ENERGY - energy that is

WEEK 1 & 2 Earth’s Gravitational Field - Inward
needed to move a charge against an electric field.
ELECTRICITY - fundamental form of energy
Positive Charge - Outward
observable in positive and negative forms. Expressed in
terms of the movement and interaction of electrons. Negative Charge - Inward

ELECTRIC CHARGE

Electrons - negative

Protons - positive

Neutrons - neutral

ELEMENTARY CHARGE - the smallest amount of

charge and is indicated universally by the symbol e. magnitude of the electrostatic force (F e )

Electrostatic force is a conservative force.

This means that the work done inside the field
is independent at the path.
Coulomb’s Law

POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE - is the difference in electric

potential between two points.
if the object loses one (1) electron the charge is:

electric field as the force per unit charge (E )

if two electrons are lost, the object gains a net charge

of: whenever a positive charge moves in the
direction of the electric field, the work done
and the change in potential energy are
negative, whenever a positive charge is
moving opposite the direction of the electric
n = number of electrons lost
field, the work done and the change in
e = charge of each electrons potential energy are positive.

Q = total charge

Q=ne WEEK 3
CAPACITOR - is a device used to temporarily store
CONDUCTOR - refers to the elements that allow electric charges. Like battery, it can store energy but in a
electric current or heat to pass through them. different way.

Free flowing electrons

Electric is found on the surface of material

High conductivity

INSULATOR - refers to the elements that do not

ELECTRIC FLUX - the number of electric field lines
permit electric current or heat to travel through them.
crossing a surface around a charge or a distribution of
Tightly knit electrons charges.

Electric field does not exist in the material

conductors are separated by a dielectric insulating
Low to none conductivity
material such as ceramic.
WAYS OF CHARGING

Friction - rubbing things together, electrons can DIELECTRIC means “the material will
peel off polarize when in contact with an electric field”.
Touching - charged object comes into contact
with another object, electrons are transferred,
Common Types of Capacitor
Induction - there is no actual contact between
Electrolytic Capacitor
the charged object and that which is being
charged. Mica Capacitor
Electric flux is positive when there are more
lines going out the surface. It is negative Large Capacitor
when there are more lines going into the
surface.
 WEEK 4 If Ri is constant, then the potential drop in the
ELECTRIC CURRENT - flow of electric charge in a internal resistance is proportional to the
circuit. current. Therefore, the greater the current in
CURRENT - the flow of electrons in a circuit. the circuit, the less the TPD of the cell.

unit of measure: Ampere (A)

VOLTAGE - pushing force WEEK 5

CAPACITOR IN PARALLEL - the total capacitance is To use electricity, we need electrons to flow in the MAGNETIC FIELD - Is a picture that we use as a tool to
the sum of the individual capacitance. same describe how the magnetic force is distributed in the
direction around a circuit. space around and within something magnetic.

If too many electrons pass through the Magnets have two poles and that depending
cable or the lamp, then they will just burst on the orientation of two magnets there can
or burn out. be attraction (opposite poles) or repulsion
(similar poles).

AMMETER - measure the flow of current in the circuit

using the units of Amps (A). TWO DIFFERENT WAYS MAGNETIC FIELD IS
ILLUSTRATED:
CONVENTIONAL CURRENT - current flow from the
DIELECTRIC - a piece of insulating material that fills the
positive terminal to the negative terminal. Current 1. The magnetic field is described mathematically as a
space between the plates of a capacitor.
flows from high voltage to low voltage. vector field.
EXAMPLES OF INSULATING MATERIAL
2. An alternative way to represent the information
Mineral oil contained within a vector field is with the use of field
Plastic lines.

MAGNETIC FIELD LINE DESCRIPTION AND

Mica RESISTANCE - is measured in ohms (Ω)
PROPERTIES
Ceramic
1. Magnetic field lines never cross.
Porcelain Ohms are named after Georg Simon Ohm
(1784-1854), a German physicist who 2. Magnetic field lines naturally bunch together in
Silicon Geranium
studied the relationship between voltage, regions where the magnetic field is
current and resistance. the strongest. Density of field lines indicates the
SI unit of capacitance, the Farad, is named strength of the field.
after Michael Faraday. He found out that the 3. Magnetic field lines don't start or stop anywhere,
Ohm’s Law
capacitance is increased by a numerical they always make closed loops
factor k, the dielectric constant of the material
V = IR 4. We require a way to indicate the direction of the
introduced between the plates of a capacitor.
field. This is usually done by drawing
V= Voltage, I= Current, R= Resistance
arrowheads along the lines.
CAPACITANCE OF A CAPACITOR ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE (EMF) - energy transfer
5. Field lines can be visualized quite easily in the real
to an electric circuit per unit of electric charge,
world. This is commonly done with
measured in volts.
iron filings dropped on a surface near something
SOURCES OF EMF - Devices that continuously magnetic.
supply electrons in a circuit.
FORCE DUE TO MAGNETIC FIELDS
TWO TYPES OF EMF SOURCE
Force on a Charged Particle
1. One that converts chemical energy into electrical
Force on a Current Element (Current-Carrying
energy (ex. batteries and dry cells)
Conductor)
2. Another that converts mechanical energy into
Force between Two Parallel Conductors
electrical energy (ex. generator)
Force On A Charged Particles - "Magnetic fields also
V exert forces on a charged particle but only when that
I=
R charged particle is moving.”
E
I=
(Ri + RE )

E = IRi + IRE

E = IR i + TP D
Magnetic Flux or Magnetic Induction - is a measure
of the strength of the total magnetic field.
 Force Between Two Parallel Conductors - The
The SI unit of magnetic field is the tesla force between two long straight and parallel
(T), named after Serbian inventor, Nikola conductors separated by a distance r can be found
Tesla. A tesla is the amount of magnetic field by applying what we have developed in preceding
that will exert a force of 1 N on a charge of 1 sections.
C moving at m/s perpendicular to that field.

N 1N
1T = =
C•m/s A• m

GAUSS (G)- named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, known

for formulating Gauss’s Law. Is a nonstandard unit for
magnetic field. Operational Definition of the Ampere - based on
the force between current-carrying wires.
* convert any magnetic field given in gauss to tesla
when solving problems, the conversion is: the force per meter is:

−4
1G = 10 T

Net Force is given as:

WEEK 6
F = q(E + V xB)
BIOT - SAVART LAW - equation describing the
magnetic field generated by a constant electric
This force is knows as Lorentz force, named
current.
after the Dutch Physicist Hendrick Antoon
Lorentz

RIGHT HAND RULE

Created by two French physicists, Jean

Baptiste Biot and Felix Savart derived the
mathematical expression for magnetic flux
density at a point
due to a nearby current-carrying
conductor, in 1820.

magnitude of dB=

Force On A Current Element - “Because charges

ordinarily cannot escape a conductor, the magnetic
force on charges moving in a conductor is transmitted to
the conductor itself.”

AMPERE’S LAW - “For any closed loop, the dot

product of the total distance around the loop and the
magnetic field is equal to the enclosed current times
the magnetic permeability.”