Engineering Physics II

Dr. Nabila Nowaira

Dr. Mahmoud Ossaimee
Electric Charge and
Electric Field
 Electric Charge in the Atom

Nucleus (small, massive,

positive charge)
Electron cloud (large, very
low density, negative charge)

Charge comes in two types, positive

and negative; like charges repel and
opposite charges attract.

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 Unit of charge: coulomb, C.

1 μC = 10-6 C.

The symbol for a charge is Q or q

Charge on the electron:

e = 1.602 × 10-19 C.

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 Conductors & insulators
It is convenient to classify materials in terms
of the ability of electrons to move
throughout the material.

Electrical conductors are materials in which

some electrons are free ( that is not bound to
atoms)

Electrical insulators are materials in which

all electrons are bound to atoms and cannot
move freely throughout the material

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 Coulomb’s Law
Experiment shows that the magnitude of the electric force
between two charges is proportional to the product of the
charges and inversely proportional to the distance between
them.

𝒒𝟏 𝒒𝟐
𝑭= 𝒌 𝐍
𝒓𝟐
k is Coulomb’s constant = 9 × 109 Nm2 /C2

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The proportionality constant k can also be written in
terms of ϵ0, the permittivity of free space:

𝒒𝟏 𝒒𝟐
𝑭= 𝐍
𝟒𝝅𝒓𝟐 𝝐𝒐

Where:

𝟏
𝝐𝒐 = = 𝟖. 𝟖𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟐 𝐂 𝟐 /𝐍𝐦𝟐
𝟒𝝅𝒌

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 Coulomb’s Law
The force is along the line connecting the charges, and is attractive
if the charges are opposite, and repulsive if they are the same.

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 Conceptual Example :
Two positive point charges, q1 = 50 μC and q2 = 1 μC, are
separated by a distance r. Which is larger in magnitude, the
force that q1 exerts on q2 or the force that q2 exerts on q1?

𝑞1 𝑞2
𝐹12 = 𝑘 (−𝑖 ) N
ℓ2
𝑞2 𝑞1
𝐹21 = 𝑘 (+𝑖 ) N
ℓ2
the magnitudes of both forces are identical
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Example 1:
The electron and proton of a hydrogen atom are separated by
a distance of approximately 5.3 ×10-11 m. Find the
magnitudes of the electric force Fe and the gravitational force
Fg between the two particles. [e = 1.6 ×10-19 C, me = 9.1 ×10-31
kg, mp = 1.67×10-27 kg]
Solution:
−𝟏𝟗 𝟐
𝒆 −𝒆 𝟗
𝟏. 𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎
𝑭𝒆 = 𝒌 𝟐
= 𝟗 × 𝟏𝟎 = 𝟖. 𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟖 𝐍
𝒓 𝟓. 𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟏 𝟐

𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒑 𝟗. 𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎 −𝟑𝟏 𝟏. 𝟔𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟐𝟕
−𝟏𝟏
𝑭𝒈 = 𝑮 = 𝟔. 𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎
𝒓𝟐 𝟓. 𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟏 𝟐
= 𝟑. 𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟒𝟕 𝐍
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Example 2: Three charges in a line.
Three charged particles are arranged in a line, as shown.
Calculate the net electrostatic force on particle 3 (the -4.0 μC on
the right) due to the other two charges.

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 𝒌 𝒒𝟑 𝒒𝟏 𝟗×𝟏𝟎𝟗 ×𝟒×𝟏𝟎−𝟔 ×𝟖×𝟏𝟎−𝟔
𝐹31 = 𝑖= 𝑖 = 1.2 𝑖 N
𝒓𝟐 𝟎.𝟓 𝟐

𝒌 𝒒𝟐 𝒒𝟏 𝟗×𝟏𝟎𝟗 ×𝟒×𝟏𝟎−𝟔 ×𝟑×𝟏𝟎−𝟔

𝐹32 = (-𝑖) = (-𝑖) = -2.7 𝑖 N
𝒓𝟐 𝟎.𝟐 𝟐

𝐹3 = 1.2 𝑖 + (-2.7 𝑖) = -1.5 𝑖 N

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Example 3:
Thee point charges lie along the x-axis as shown. If
q1 = 12 μC and q2 = 6 μC and the net force acting on
q3 is zero, find the x-coordinate of q3?

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Solution:
𝑭𝟑𝟏 = 𝑭𝟑𝟐

𝑥 𝑞2 6𝜇𝐶
= =
2−𝑥 𝑞1 12𝜇𝐶
𝒙 = 𝟎. 𝟖𝟑 𝐦

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 Vector form of Coulomb’s law
Example 3: Electric force using vector Form.
Calculate the net electrostatic force on charge q3 = 6.5 µC shown in
the figure due to the charges q1 = 8.6 µC and q2 = 5 = 6.5 µC µC . r31 =
60 cm and r32 = 30 cm

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 𝒌𝑸𝟑 𝑸𝟏 𝟗 × 𝟏𝟎𝟗 × 𝟔. 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔 × 𝟖. 𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔
𝑭𝟑𝟏 = 𝟐
= 𝟐
= 𝟏. 𝟒 𝑵
𝒓𝟑𝟏 𝟎. 𝟔
𝑭𝟑𝟏𝒙 = 𝑭𝟑𝟏 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝟑𝟎 = 𝟏. 𝟐 𝐍. 𝑭𝟑𝟏𝒚 = −𝑭𝟑𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝟑𝟎 = −𝟎. 𝟕 𝐍
𝒌𝑸𝟑 𝑸𝟐 𝟗 × 𝟏𝟎𝟗 × 𝟔. 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔 × 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔
𝑭𝟑𝟐 = 𝟐
= 𝟐
= 𝟑. 𝟑 𝐍
𝒓𝟑𝟐 𝟎. 𝟑
𝑭𝟑𝟐𝒙 = 𝟎, 𝑭𝟑𝟐𝒚 = 𝟑. 𝟑 𝐍

Hence we can write:

𝑭𝟑𝟏 = 𝑭𝟑𝟏𝒙 𝒊 + 𝑭𝟑𝟏𝒚 𝒋 = 𝟏. 𝟐𝒊 − 𝟎. 𝟕𝒋 𝐍

𝑭𝟑𝟐 = 𝑭𝟑𝟐𝒙 𝒊 + 𝑭𝟑𝟐𝒚 𝒋 = 𝟎𝒊 + 𝟑. 𝟑𝒋 𝐍

𝑭𝟑 = 𝟏. 𝟐 𝒊 + 𝟐. 𝟔𝟎𝒋 𝐍
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 The Electric Field
An electric field is said to exist in the
region of space around a charged object,
the source charge Q. The presence of the
electric field can be detected by placing a
positive test charge qo in the field and
noting the electric force on it

An electric field is the Force per unit Charge.

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 The Electric Field
The electric field at P due to a point
charge Q is:
𝑭 𝟏 𝒌𝑸𝒒
𝑬= = N/C
𝒒 𝒒 𝒓𝟐
𝒌𝑸
𝑬= N/C
𝒓𝟐

Or in terms of 𝝐𝟎 :
𝟏 𝑸
𝑬= N/C
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝒓𝟐

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 The Electric Field
The direction of the force on a
point charge in an electric
field:
𝑭 = 𝒒𝑬
If q is positive, the Force and
the electric field will point to
the same directions
If q is negative, the Force
and the electric field will
point to different
directions
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 The Electric Field
Example 5:
Calculate the magnitude and direction of the electric
field at a point P which is 30 cm to the right of a
point charge Q = -3.0 x 10-6 C.
Solution:

For Q = +3.0 x 10-6 C.

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 The Electric Field
Example 6:
Two point charges are separated by a distance of 10.0 cm.
One has a charge of -25 μC and the other +50 μC. (a)
Determine the direction and magnitude of the electric
field at a point P between the two charges that is 2.0 cm
from the negative charge. (b) If an electron (mass = 9.11 x
10-31 kg) is placed at rest at P and then released, what will
be its initial acceleration (direction and magnitude)?

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Solution:
a) The electric field vector due to both
charges is:
  
6 6
k Q1 k Q2 25  10 50  10
E= 2
- î + 2
- î = 9  10 9
[ 2
+ 2
] - î
r1 r2 (0.02) (0.08)
E = 6.3 10 - î  N/C
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The direction of field is to the left.

b) The magnitude of the acceleration is:
F q E 1.6 ´10-19 ´ 6.3´108
a= = = = 1.1´10 20
m/s 2

m m 9.11´10-31
Example 7:
A water droplet of mass 3×10-12 kg is located in the
air near the ground during a stormy day. An
atmospheric electric field of magnitude 6×103 N/C
points vertically downward. The droplet at rest in
the air. What is the electric charge on the droplet.
Solution:
ƩF=0 → Fe – Fg = 0
q (-E) - mg = 0

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Example 8:
Calculate the total electric field at point A in the figure
due to both charges, q1 = 50 µC, q2 = -50 µ r1 = 30 cm
and r2 = 60 cm.

𝑬𝟏

𝑬𝟐

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 Solution
𝑘 𝑞1 9 × 109 × 50 × 10−6 6 N/C
𝐸1 = = = 5 × 10
𝑟12 (0.3)2
𝐸1 = 5 × 106 𝑗 N/C
𝑘 𝑞2 9 × 109 × 50 × 10−6 6 N/C
𝐸2 = = = 1.25 × 10
𝑟22 (0.6)2
𝐸2 = 𝐸2 𝑐𝑜𝑠30 𝑖 − 𝐸2 𝑠𝑖𝑛 30 𝑗 N/C

𝐸2 = 1.1 × 106 𝑖 − 0.6 × 106 𝑗 N/C

𝑬 = 𝟏. 𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝒊 + 𝟒. 𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝒋 𝐍/C

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Field Lines

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 Field Lines
• The lines must begin on a positive charge and terminate
on a negative charge. In the case of an excess of one type
of charge, some lines will begin and end infinitely far away

• The number of lines is proportional to the magnitude of

the Electric Field.

• The number of lines is proportional to the magnitude

of the charge.

• No two field lines can cross (or intersect).

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 Electric Fields and Conductors
The electric field is perpendicular to
the surface of a conductor – again, if
it were not, charges would move.

The static electric field inside a

conductor is zero – if it were not,
the charges would move.

The net charge on a conductor

resides on its outer surface.

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The Electric Field due to a Continuous
Charge Distribution
If a charge Q is uniformly distributed throughout a
volume V, the volume charge density  is defined by
 = Q/V C/m3
If a charge Q is uniformly distributed on a surface
area A, the surface charge density  is defined by
 = Q/A C/m2

If a charge Q is uniformly distributed along a line

of length ℓ, the linear charge density λ is defined
by
= Q/ℓ C/m
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The Electric Field due to a Continuous
Charge Distribution
A continuous distribution of charge
may be treated as a succession of
infinitesimal (point) charges.
The electric field at point P due to one
charge element Δq is:

The total electric field at point P due to

all charge elements is approximately:
𝑑𝑞
𝐸 = ∆𝐸1 + ∆𝐸2 + … . .= 𝑘 𝑟
𝑟2
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