Electrostatic

Force
 Charges
- Refers to the physical property that
causes matter to experience a force
within an electromagnetic field.
- It may be positive or negative
- Like charges repel while opposite
charges attract
(e) 1 electron = −1.6 × 10−19 𝐶
(+e) 1 proton = 1.6 × 10−19 𝐶
Mass of fundamental particles

− 𝑚𝑒 = 9.1 × 10−31 𝑘𝑔

+ 𝑚𝑝 = 1.67 × 10−27 𝑘𝑔

𝑚𝑛 = 1.67 × 10−27 𝑘𝑔
Types of
Materials
Conductors
- Permit the easy movement of
electrons
- Metals are good conductors

- Outer electrons from each atom

can move freely throughout the
material.
Insulators
- electrons are tightly
bound and are not free to
move about

- Materials where no electron transfer can occur.

Types of
Charging
Charging by conduction
- Charging through contact
Charging by induction
- Charging without contact.
Charging by induction
Charging by friction
Forces on uncharged objects
- Attraction due to polarization
Coulomb’s
Law
𝐹
− − 𝐹
𝑟

𝐹
+ + 𝐹

+ 𝐹 𝐹
−
 Coulomb’s Law
𝑞1 → the first charge
𝑘 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝐹= 2 𝑞2 → the second charge
𝑟
𝑟 → distance between 𝑞1
Force is inversely
proportional to the square and 𝑞2
of the distance between
𝑘 →9× 109 2
𝑁𝑚 /𝐶 2
two charges.
𝐴.
− −
𝑞1 = 4𝑒 𝑞2 = 3𝑒 Which pair of
charges experience
a greater force on
𝑟 = 0.02 𝑚
each other?
𝐵.
− −
𝑞1 = 2𝑒 𝑞2 = 6𝑒
𝐴.
− −
𝑞1 = 3𝑒 𝑞2 = 3𝑒 Which pair of
charges experience
a greater force on
𝑟 = 0.02 𝑚
each other?
𝐵.
− +
𝑞1 = 4𝑒 𝑞2 = 2𝑒
𝐴. 𝑞1 = 3𝑒 𝑞2 = 3𝑒

− −
Which pair of
𝑟 = 0.011 𝑚 charges experience
a greater force on
𝑞1 = 3𝑒 𝑞2 = 3𝑒 each other?
𝐵.
− −
𝑟 = 0.018 𝑚
 1
Sample Problems
Solve for the magnitude of the force between two charges 𝑞1 = 2 µ𝐶 and
𝑞2 = 3 µ𝐶 if they are separated at a distance of r = 0.03 𝑚.
𝑞1 𝑞2
𝑘 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝐹=
𝑟2 + +
2
𝑁𝑚
9 × 109 2 2 𝜇𝐶 3 𝜇𝐶 𝑟
𝐶
𝐹=
0.03 𝑚 2
2
𝑁𝑚
9 × 109 2 2 × 10−6 𝐶 3 × 10−6 𝐶
𝐶
𝐹= 2 = 𝟔𝟎 𝑵
0.03 𝑚
 2
Sample Problems
Two point charges, 𝑞1 = +25 𝑛𝐶 and 𝑞2 = −75 nC, are separated by
a distance 𝑟 = 3.0 𝑐𝑚. Find the magnitude and direction of the
electric force 𝑞1 𝑞2
(a) that 𝑞1 exerts on 𝑞2 and + −
(b) that 𝑞2 exerts on 𝑞1 .
𝑟
(𝒂)
𝑘 𝑞1 𝑞2 9 × 109 𝑁𝑚2 /𝐶 2 25 × 10−9 𝐶 −75 × 10−9 𝐶
𝐹12 = 2 =
𝑟 0.03 2
= 𝟎. 𝟎𝟐 𝑵, 𝑾
 2
Sample Problems
Two point charges, 𝑞1 = +25 𝑛𝐶 and 𝑞2 = −75 nC, are separated by
a distance 𝑟 = 3.0 𝑐𝑚. Find the magnitude and direction of the
electric force 𝑞1 𝑞2
(a) that 𝑞1 exerts on 𝑞2 and + −
(b) that 𝑞2 exerts on 𝑞1 .
𝑟
(𝒃)
𝑘 𝑞2 𝑞1 9 × 109 𝑁𝑚2 /𝐶 2 −75 × 10−9 𝐶 25 × 10−9 𝐶
𝐹21 = 2 =
𝑟 0.03 2
= 𝟎. 𝟎𝟐 𝑵, 𝑬
 3
Sample Problems
How many excess electrons are on a ball with a charge of −4.00 × 10−17 𝐶?

−17
1 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛
−4.00 × 10 𝐶 × −19
= 𝟐𝟓𝟎 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒔
−1.6 × 10 𝐶
 4
Sample Problems
Find the total mass of 10 electrons.

10 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑠 × 9.1 × 10−31 𝑘𝑔 = 𝟗. 𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑𝟎 𝒌𝒈

 5
Sample Problems
As you walk across a rug, 9.1 × 10−23 𝑘𝑔 of electrons transfer to your body.

a) Solve for the number of electrons that transferred to your body

b) Based on the number of electrons that transferred, solve for the total
charge in Coulombs.

−
1 𝑒
(𝒂) 9.1 × 10−23 𝑘𝑔 × = 𝟏𝟎𝟎, 𝟎𝟎𝟎, 𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐞−
9.1 × 10−31 𝑘𝑔
−19
− −1.6 × 10 𝐶 −𝟏𝟏
(𝒃) 100,000,000 𝑒 × = −𝟏. 𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎 𝐂
1 𝑒−
 6
Sample Problems
Two electrons in an atom are separated by 1.5 × 10−10 𝑚, the typical size of
an atom. What is the magnitude of the force between them?

𝑘 𝑞1 𝑞2 9 × 109 𝑁𝑚2 /𝐶 2 −1.6 × 10−19 𝐶 −1.6 × 10−19 𝐶

𝐹= =
𝑟2 1.5 × 10−10 𝑚 2

= 𝟏. 𝟎𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟖 𝑵
 7
Sample Problems
According to the diagram below, 𝑞1 = 4 𝑛𝐶, 𝑞2 = −3 𝑛𝐶, and 𝑞3 = −6 𝑛𝐶 and
the distance between 𝑞1 and 𝑞2 is 0.04 𝑚 while the distance between 𝑞2 and 𝑞3 is
0.08 m. Calculate the total force acting on 𝑞1 and 𝑞3 . Indicate the direction of the
total force.
𝑞1 𝑞2 𝑞3
+ − −
−5
𝑟1 𝑟2 𝐹21 = 6.75 × 10 𝑁, 𝐸
𝐹31 = 1.5 × 10−5 𝑁, 𝐸
𝑟3 = 𝑟1 + 𝑟2 𝐹𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 8.25 × 10−5 𝑁, 𝐸
 7
Sample Problems
According to the diagram below, 𝑞1 = 4 𝑛𝐶, 𝑞2 = −3 𝑛𝐶, and 𝑞3 = −6 𝑛𝐶 and
the distance between 𝑞1 and 𝑞2 is 0.04 𝑚 while the distance between 𝑞2 and 𝑞3 is
0.08 m. Calculate the total force acting on 𝑞1 and 𝑞3 . Indicate the direction of the
total force.
𝑞1 𝑞2 𝑞3
+ − −
𝐹13 = 1.5 × 10−5 𝑁, 𝑊
𝑟1 𝑟2
𝐹23 = 2.53 × 10−5 𝑁, 𝐸

𝑟3 = 𝑟1 + 𝑟2 𝐹𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 1.03 × 10−5 𝑁, 𝐸

The electric force between two point charges with a 8
magnitude of −800 𝑛𝐶 and 900 𝑛𝐶 is 15 𝑁. How far apart
are the two charges from each other?
−9 𝑘 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝑞1 = −800 × 10 𝐶 𝐹=
𝑟2
𝑞2 = 900 × 10−9 𝐶
𝑘 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝑟=
𝐹 = 15 𝑁 𝐹

𝑟 =? 9 × 109 −800 × 10−9 900 × 10−9

𝑟=
15 𝑁

𝑟 = 0.02 𝑚
A force of 500 N exists between two identical point 9
charges separated by a distance of 40 cm. Calculate
the magnitude of the two point charges.
𝑘 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝐹 = 500 𝑁 𝐹=
𝑟2
𝑟 = 40 𝑐𝑚 = 0.4 𝑚 𝑘 𝑞1 2
𝐹=
𝑞1 = ? 𝑟2
𝐹𝑟 2 500 𝑁 0.4 𝑚 2
𝑞2 = ? 𝑞1 = =
𝑘 9 × 109 𝑁𝑚2 /𝐶 2

𝑞1 = 9.43 × 10−5 𝐶