FINAL TERM

1
 Think, why……..

Lightning
Taking off the hat in Attraction between the
the winter balloon and hair

Static charge is
responsible for all of
these.

Why do you feel the shock when you

scuff your shoes across a carpet and This is due to charged particles leaping
then reach for a metal doorknob? between your finger and the doorknob.
 Do you know?

❑ The root of the computers, television, radio,

telecommunications, household lighting, and
even the ability of food wrap to cling to a
container etc. depend on the physics of
electromagnetism, which is the combination
of electric and magnetic phenomena.
❑ Electromagnetic interactions involve particles
that have a property called electric charge.

❑ Just as objects with mass are accelerated by

gravitational forces, so electrically charged
objects are accelerated by electric forces.
 Nature of electric charge
Like charges repel, unlike charges attract ▪ A positive charge and a
negative charge attract each
+ - Attract other.
Charge ▪ Two positive charges or two
+ +
Repel negative charges repel each
- - other.

Charge is a conserved quantity. Electric Charge is quantized.

Charges are additive in nature.

Net charge Q = 0 q1 q2 q3
Q
Q=nxe Q

gains 2 electrons loses 2 electrons

Q= q1 + q2 + q3
The magnitude of charge of the
electron or proton is a natural unit
The principle of conservation of charge: of charge.
The algebraic sum of all the electric Every observable amount of electric The charge of an electron or a
charges in any closed system is constant. charge is always an integer multiple proton,
of this basic unit. That is charge is e = 1.6021764871402 x 10-19 C
quantized
 Coulomb’s Force (Electrostatic force)
Coulomb’s law: (Charles Augustin de 𝐹=𝑘
𝑞1 𝑞2
q1 𝑟2 q2
Coulomb)
The magnitude of the electric force r
between two-point charges is directly - +
proportional to the product of the
charges and inversely proportional to
the square of the distance between
them.
The magnitude F of the force that each of two-point charges q1 and q2 , a distance r apart,
exerts on other can be expressed as

𝒒𝟏 𝒒𝟐
𝑭=𝒌
𝒓𝟐
1 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝑜𝑟, 𝐹 = e = 1.6021764871402 x 10-19 C
4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝑟 2
The directions of the forces the two charges exert on each other are always along the line
joining them.
 Electric force versus gravitational force
An  particle (the nucleus of a helium atom) has mass m = 6.64 x 10-27 kg and charge q = 3.2 x 10-19 C. Compare the
magnitude of the electric repulsion between two  (“alpha”) particles with that of the gravitational attraction
between them.

Answer: The Electric repulsion force between two  particles,

1 𝑞1 𝑞2 1 𝑞2
𝐹𝑒 = =
4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝑟 2 4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝑟 2
The gravitational attractive force between two  particles,

𝑚1 𝑚2 𝑚2
𝐹𝐺 = 𝐺 =𝐺 2
𝑟2 𝑟
The ratio of electric force to gravitational force,

𝐹𝑒 1 𝑞2 9 × 109 𝑁. 𝑚2 /𝐶 2 (3.2 × 10−19 𝐶)2

= =
𝐹𝐺 4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝐺 𝑚2 6.67 × 10−11 𝑁. 𝑚2 /𝐾𝑔2 (6.64 × 10−27 𝐾𝑔)2

= 3.1 × 1035

This astonishingly large number shows that the gravitational force in this situation is
completely negligible in comparison to the electric force. This is always true for
interactions of atomic and subnuclear particles.
 Force between two-point charges

Solve it by yourself !

1. Two point charges, q1= 25 nC and q2 = -75 nC are separated

by a distance r = 3 cm (Fig. a). Find the magnitude and
direction of the electric force (a) that q1 exerts on q2 and (b)
that q2 exerts on q1 .
2. Two point charges are located on the x-axis of a coordinate
system: q1= 1 nC is at x = +2.0 cm and q2 = -3.0 nC is at x =
+4 cm . What is the total electric force exerted by q1 and q2
and on a charge q3 = 5.0 nC at x = 0?
 Electric Field and Electric Forces

Think
about
it….. We can begin to answer this question, and
at the same time reformulate Coulomb’s
When two electrically charged
law in a very useful way, by using the
particles in empty space interact,
concept of electric field.
how does each one know the other is
there?

To introduce this concept, let’s look at the

Electric Field mutual repulsion of two positively charged
bodies A and B (Fig. a). Suppose B has
charge qo and let Fo be the electric force of A
on B. One way to think about this force is as
an “action-at-a-distance” force—that is, as
a force that acts across empty space without
needing any matter (such as a push rod or a
rope)

Can you recall that Gravity can also be thought of as an “action-at-a-distance”

force or noncontact force?
The repulsion between A and B may visualize by considering that (as a result of the
charge that A and B carries),

(1) Body A, somehow modifies the properties of the

space around it.
(2) Then body B, senses how space has been modified at
its position. The response of body B is to experience the
force, Fo .

The charged body A produces or causes an

electric field at point P (and at all other points in
the neighborhood). This electric field is present at
even if there is no charge at P.
If a point charge qo is then placed at point P , it
experiences the force, Fo. We take the point of
view that this force is exerted on qo by the field at
P (Fig. c).
Thus the electric field is the intermediary through
which A communicates its presence to qo.
❑ A charged body creates an electric field in the space around it.
❑ The electric force on a charged body is exerted by the electric field created by other
charged bodies.

We define the electric field 𝐸 at a point as the electric force 𝐹Ԧ experienced

by a test charge 𝑞0 at the point, divided by the charge 𝑞0 .That is, the
electric field at a certain point is equal to the electric force per unit charge
experienced by a charge at that point:

An electric field is a vector field because it is

responsible for conveying the information for a
force, which involves both magnitude and
direction. This field consists of a distribution of
electric field vectors 𝐸, one for each point in the
space around a charged object.

𝐹Ԧ
𝐸=
𝑞0
The SI unit for the electric field is the Newton per Coulomb (N/C).
The field produced by a positive point The field produced by a negative point
charge points away from the charge charge points toward the charge

Electric field lines extend away from positive charge (where they
originate) and toward negative charge (where they terminate).
Field lines for a positive point charge
and a nearby negative point charge Field lines for two equal positive
that are equal in magnitude. point charges.

Electric field lines help us visualize the direction and magnitude of electric fields. The
electric field vector at any point is tangent to the field line through that point. The
density of field lines in that region is proportional to the magnitude of the electric
field there. Thus, closer field lines represent a stronger field.
 If we place a small test charge +𝑞0 at the
+𝒒𝟎
field point P at a distance r from the point
+𝒒 𝑟 𝑬
charge 𝑞, the magnitude 𝐹 of the force is 𝑃
given by the Coulomb’s law,

1 𝑞𝑞0 +𝒒𝟎
𝐹= −𝒒 𝑟
4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟 2 𝑬 𝑃
The quantity 𝜺𝟎 , called the permittivity
constant. The value of 𝜺𝟎 is
+𝒒𝟎
−12 ∁2 𝒓ො
𝜀0 = 8.85 × 10 +𝒒 𝑟 𝑬
𝑁.𝑚2 𝑃

The magnitude 𝐸 of the electric field at point P is

+𝒒𝟎
1 𝑞𝑞0 𝒓ො
−𝒒 𝑟
𝐹 4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟 2 1 𝑞 𝑬 𝑃
𝐸= = =
𝑞0 𝑞0 4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟 2 In vector form,

1 𝑞 1 𝑞
𝐸= 𝐸= 2
𝑟Ƹ
4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟 2 4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟
A charged particle produces an electric field with a magnitude of 2.0 N/C at a point
that is 50 cm away from the particle. What is the magnitude of the particle’s charge?

Given
Required formula: 1 𝑞
𝐸=
4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟 2 𝐸 = 2.0 𝑁/𝐶
𝑞 𝑟 = 50 𝑐𝑚 = 0.50 𝑚
2=9× 109 1
0.50 2 = 9 × 109 𝑁. 𝑚2 /∁2
4𝜋𝜀0
(2)(0.25) −9 𝐶 𝑞 =?
𝑞= = 0.0555 × 10
9 × 109

What is the magnitude of a point charge that would create an electric field of 1.00 N/C
at points 1.00 m away?

Follow exactly similar steps to the answer problem 6.

 Let’s try !!!!
Fig. 1
1. Calculate electric field at point C for figure 1.

2. Calculate net electric field at point C for fig. Fig. 2

2.

3. Calculate net electric field at the mid point +10 𝑛𝐶 − 5𝑛𝐶

of the distance between the two point Fig. 3
charges for fig. 3. d =1m