Electric Charge: - 1 Class 10 - Electricity
Electric Charge: - 1 Class 10 - Electricity
Electric Charge: - 1 Class 10 - Electricity
Electric Charge
Charge is the property associated with matter due to which it produces and experiences electrical
and magnetic effects.
Types of Charge
Units of Charge
Properties of Charge
(I) Charge is a scalar quantity : It adds algebraically and represents excess, or deficiency of
electrons.
(II) Charge is transferable : Charging a body implies transfer of charge (electrons) from one body
to another. Positively charged body means loss of electrons, i.e. deficiency of electrons. Negatively
charged body means excess of electrons. This also shows that mass of a negatively charged
(III) Charge is conserved : In an isolated system, total charge (sum of positive and negative)
(IV) Charge is quantized : Charge on anybody always exists in integral multiples of a fundamental
unit of electric charge. This unit is equal to the magnitude of charge on electron (1e = 1.6 ×
10–19 coulomb). So charge on anybody Q = ± ne, where n is an integer and e is the charge of
the electron.
(v) Like point charges repel each other while unlike point charges attract each other.
(vi) Charge is always associated with mass, i.e., charge can not exist without mass though mass
can exist without charge. The particle such as photon or neutrino which have no (rest) mass
(vii) Charge is relativistically invariant : This means that charge is independent of frame of
reference, i.e., charge on a body does not change whatever be its speed. This property is worth
mentioning as in contrast to charge, the mass of a body depends on its speed and increases with
increase in speed.
(viii) A charge at rest produces only electric field around itself; a charge having uniform motion
produces electric as well as magnetic field around itself while a charge having accelerated
(ix) Quantization of charge : If the charge of an electron ( 1.6 10 19 C ) is taken as elementary
unit i.e. quanta of charge, the charge on any body will be some integral multiple of e i.e.,
Q ne with n 1, 2, 3 ....
Charge Mass
(2) Charge carried by a body does (2) Mass of a body increases with its
not depend upon velocity of the m0
body. velocity as m
1 v2 / c 2
where c is velocity of light in
vacuum, m is the mass of the body
moving with velocity v and m 0 is
rest mass of the body.
(5) Force between charges can be (5) The gravitational force between
attractive or repulsive, two masses is always attractive.
accordingly as charges are unlike
or like charges.
If two stationary and point charges q1 and q2 are kept at a distance r, then it is found that force
between them is
K is electrostatic constant which depends upon the medium surrounding the two charges.
Electrical Field
A positive charge or a negative charge is said to create its field around itself. Thus space around
a charge in which another charged particle experiences a force is said to have electrical field in it.
E + E
q0 + + + + q0
+
(1) Definition : The electric field in a region is represented by continuous lines (also called lines
of force). Field line is an imaginary line along which a positive test charge will move if left free.
+ –
+ – + +
N
(C) (D)
(2) Properties of electric lines of force
(i) Electric field lines come out of positive charge and go into the negative charge.
(ii) Tangent to the field line at any point gives the direction of the field at that point.
EA
EB
B
Electric Potential
(1) Definition : Potential at a point in a field is defined as the amount of work done in bringing a
unit positive test charge, from infinity to that point along any arbitrary path (infinity is point of
W
zero potential). Electric potential is a scalar quantity, it is denoted by V; V
q0
Joule
S. I. unit : volt
Coulomb
1
C.G.S. unit : Stat volt (e.s.u.); 1 volt Stat volt
300
(3) Potential difference : In an electric field potential difference between two points A and B is
defined as equal to the amount of work done (by external agent) in moving a unit positive
W
charge from point A to point B i.e., VB VA
q0