Electrostatics Notes

1 – Charges and Coulomb’s Law

Ancient Greeks discovered that if amber (fossilized sap) is rubbed it will attract small objects. This is similar to
when you run a comb through your hair…it will then attract bits of lint or dust. WHY?!?

Clearly this attraction is due to some FORCE at work. In this case it is electrostatic force which exists between
electrically charged objects.

Conductors are materials that… Insulators are materials that…

A negative charge is caused by… A positive charge is caused by…

It is possible to build up a charge on insulators because electrons cannot…

When a vinyl strip is rubbed with fur or wool the rod gains an excess of electrons and therefore is
________________. If an acetate strip is rubbed with silk then it will lose electrons and become ________________.

Two charged vinyl strips Two charged acetate strips One charged vinyl and one
charged acetate strip

The Law of Charges states:

(1)

(2)

(3)

But what about that so-called amber effect? Why are seemingly uncharged objects attracted to charged amber
(or combs for that matter)?

It has to do with something called…

Consider a rubber balloon that has been rubbed on someone’s hair and a tin can.

Note that the electrons on the can…

Other examples of electrostatic charges in everyday life include:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Ok enough playing around, where’s the formulas?!?

Coulomb determined that the force between two charged objects is proportional to their charges and inversely
proportional to the square of their distances or:

Where: q1 =
q2 =
r =
k =

There are two important things to notice from this equation.

First, this equation is quite similar to…

Second, electrostatic forces are much stronger than gravitational forces.

There is a very important difference between gravitational and electrostatic forces:

Gravity ALWAYS…
Electrostatic force can…

When solving for electrostatic forces we will NOT…

Instead we will determine the direction of the force based on…

Example: Example:
Two 85 kg students are 1.0 m apart. What is the Two point charges of 1.8x10-6 C and 2.4x10-6 C
gravitational force between them? produce a force of 2.2x10-3 N on each other. How
far apart are these two charges?

If these two students each have a charge of 2.0x10-3 C,

what is the electrostatic force between them?

Example:
A charge of 1.7x10-6 C is placed 2.0x10-2 m from a charge of 2.5x10-6 C and 3.5x10-2 m from a charge of -2.0x10-6
as shown.

1.7x10-6 C 2.5x10-6 C -2.0x10-6 C

What is the net electric force on the 1.7x10-6 charge?

 Electrostatics Notes
2 – Electric Field on a Single Charge
There are many similarities between gravitational and electrostatic forces. One such similarity is that both
forces can be exerted on objects that are not in contact.

In the same way that any mass is surrounded by a gravitational field, we will imagine that any charge object is
surrounded by an electric field.

Similar to gravitational fields, an electric field will depend on:

_____________________ and ______________________ the charge.

In fact we define an electric field as the force per unit charge:

Where: E=
FE =
q=

We can substitute in Coloumb’s Law to get:

In the case of electric fields we are dealing with another example of a ______________ ________________.

Therefore the field is a ____________________ ___________________.

In order to show this we always draw the field lines as ______________.

Again there is an important difference between gravitational fields and electric fields due to the fact that…

We therefore define the direction of an electric field as…

 You will remember that the strength of a vector field is indicated by the density of the arrows, therefore the
field is always strongest…

Example: Example:
What is the electric field strength at a point where a - At a distance of 7.50x10-1 m from a small charged
2.00 uC charge experiences an electric force of object the electric field strength is 2.10x104 N/C. At
5.30x10-4 N? what distance from this same object would the electric
field strength be 4.20x104 N/C?
 Electrostatics Notes
3 – Electric Field from Multiple Charges
We have already seen how charged particles emit electric fields, but how do these fields interact when two or
more charges act on each other?

Consider two positively charged particles:

Note that the electric lines of force work…

Because this electric field is a force field, it is a vector. So when multiple fields overlap we simply…

OK, now try two opposite charges:

Again the two fields interact, only this time they…

Example: Example:
What is the strength of an electric field midway Two 5.25 uC charges are 0.40 m apart. What is the
between a 2.00 uC charge and a -4.00 uC that are 0.60 strength of the electric field between them at a point
m apart? 0.10 m away from the first charge and 0.30 m away
from the second?
Example:
Find the magnitude and direction of the
t electric field
at the point P due to the charges as sh
hown.
 Electrostatics Notes
4 – Electric Potential, Electric Potential Difference and
Electric Potential Energy
First let’s examine electric potential energy. If a charged object is in an electric field it has electric potential
energy - that is it has the potential to move in that field. Note that the potential energy it has could be used
to…

A non-uniform field, such as that provided by a point, is one which has a different…

In this case we can derive a formula for the electric potential energy in a NON-UNIFORM FIELD:

Again note the similarities between…

Example:
How much work must be done to bring a 4.0 uC charged object to NOTE:
within 1.0 m of a 6.0 uC charged object from a long way away? 1. Potential energy is a …

2. We WILL …

In this case, bringing a positive charge near another positive charge requires ______________ therefore the work
is ____________________.

Example:
How much work must be done to bring a -7.0 uC charged object to within 0.5 m of a 5.0 uC charged object from
a long way away?

In this case, bringing a negative charge near a positive charge ______________________ energy therefore work
is _____________________.
 Electric Potential
Now we need to consider a new quantity, electric potential (V). Electric potential is defined as the electric
potential energy per unit charge.

Which becomes,

NOTE:
(1) The electric potential is defined in terms of the moving of a positive charge. Therefore…
+ charges…
- charges...

(2) The unit for potential is…

Example: 3.0 uC 5.0 cm

Calculate the potential at point P as shown in the diagram. 1
P
o
40
50o
5.0 cm
7.0 cm

2
3
4.0 uC
-2.0 uC

NOTE:
(1) Potentials are…

(2) We WILL use…

 Potential Difference

We sometimes want to determine the electric potential between two points. This is known as the potential
difference.

For example, given two points A and B, the potential difference between A and B is:

NOTE: When we talk about potential at a point we are talking about the potential difference between that point
and infinity, where the potential at infinity is ZERO.

Example: What is the potential difference between points A and B due to the charge shown?

A B

0.50 m
1.00 m

8.00 uC
 Electrostatics Notes
5 – Equipotential Lines and Changes in Energy
Potential Difference

We sometimes want to determine the electric potential between two points. This is known as the potential
difference.

For example, given two points A and B, the potential difference between A and B is:

NOTE: When we talk about potential at a point we are talking about the potential difference between that point and
infinity, where the potential at infinity is ZERO.

Example: What is the potential difference between points A and B due to the charge shown?

A B

0.50 m
1.00 m

8.00 uC

Equipotential Lines

Theory:
• As a charge moves along an electric field line, work is done by the electrical force. The energy gained or lost
by this charge moving in the field is a form of potential energy, and so associated with the electric field is an
electric potential, V, which has units of Energy per charge or Joules per Coulomb (also call Volts).

• Since voltage is potential energy per unit charge, voltage increases when going from a negative charge
towards a positive charge. (The kinetic energy of a positive charge would increase when going from a higher
potential to a lower potential.)

• A surface along which the potential is constant is called an Equipotential. On a piece of paper, the
equipotential is represented by a line on which the voltage is constant.
Topographical Maps:
• Since gravitational potential energy depends
on height, lines of constant height would be
gravitational equipotentials. A map of such
lines is called a topographical map. Typically,
a topographical map shows equally spaced
lines of constant elevation.

• Where the lines are most closely spaced the

elevation is changing most sharply, in other
words the terrain is steep.
Changes in Energy

A 4.0 x10-9 C charge of mass 2.4 x10-21 kg, is initially located at point A, 3.0 m from a stationary 6.0x10-8 C
charge.

a) How much work is required, by an external agent, to move the 4.0x10-9 C charge to a point B, 0.50 m
from the stationary charge?

b) If the 4.0x10-9 C charge is now released from point B, what will be its velocity when it passes back
through point A?
 Electrostatics Notes
6 – Electric Potential in Uniform Electric Fields
We have seen that the electric If we examine the electric field
field surrounding a point between charged plates we will
charge is not uniform – find that it is…
that it… +
Notice that the density of the lines is also…

In a uniform electric field we cannot use our previous formula:

This formula is only valid for describing the strength of non-uniform fields (point charges only!!!)

To find an equation for uniform fields, we will once again draw a parallel with
gravitational potential energy.

Consider a mass sitting in a uniform gravitational field at some height.

The mass will tend to move from…

As it does it…

If we allow the mass to fall the work done on it (W = ) is negative. If we want

to lift the mass to a certain height we need to do positive work on it.

A charged object in an electric field will behave in the same way, accelerating from
an area of…

As it does it…

In the same way that we would do positive work on an object to lift it against
gravity, we need to do work to bring a positive charge near a plate with positive
potential.

To calculate the work done in this case we can use the formula:
W = Δ Ep = Fd

It is often easier, however, to describe the work done in a uniform field using the
potential difference between the two plates.
Recall that potential difference:
∆V =

A potential difference is generated any time we have areas of high and low potential
energy, just like those generated by gravitational fields.
In order to determine the electric field between two charged plates we must use the formula:

Where: E =
∆V =
d =

Example: Example:
Calculate the electric field strength between two An electron is accelerated from rest through a
parallel plates that are 6.00x10-2 m apart. The potential difference of 3.00x104 V. What is the kinetic
potential of the top plate is 6.0 V and the bottom energy gained by the electron?
plate is -6.0 V.

Example:
A proton, initially at rest, is released between two parallel plates as shown.
a) What is the magnitude and direction of the electric field?

b) What is the magnitude of the electrostatic force acting on the proton?

c) What is the velocity of the proton when it exits the - 400 V plate?
 Electrostatics Notes
8 – Cathode Ray Tubes
Non-flat screen TVs and monitors work by directing a beam of high speed particles at a film of fluorescing
chemicals. These charged particles are accelerated by electrically charged plates. After they are sped up, the
beam can be directed by very precise control of another set of charged plates. Consider the following problem:

Example:
A beam of electrons is directed to a region between oppositely charged parallel plates as shown in the diagram
below.

1) The electron beam is produced by accelerating electrons through an electric potential difference of 380 V.
What is the speed of the electrons as they leave the 380 V plate?

2) What is the electrostatic force on electrons in the region between the horizontal plates when they are
connected to a 9.0 V potential difference?

3) What is the acceleration of the electrons between the deflecting plates?

4) What is the final magnitude and direction of the velocity of the electrons as it leaves the second set of plates?

5) How could you cause the beam to bend

a. more?
i)

ii)

b. less?
i)

ii)