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General PHYSICS 2 Week 1

1) Electric charge is a fundamental property of subatomic particles like electrons and protons. Electrons have a negative charge while protons have a positive charge. 2) The smallest unit of electric charge is the elementary charge, denoted by e, which has a magnitude of 1.60x10-19 coulombs (C). 3) Coulomb's law describes the electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion between two charged objects, and is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

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238 views24 pages

General PHYSICS 2 Week 1

1) Electric charge is a fundamental property of subatomic particles like electrons and protons. Electrons have a negative charge while protons have a positive charge. 2) The smallest unit of electric charge is the elementary charge, denoted by e, which has a magnitude of 1.60x10-19 coulombs (C). 3) Coulomb's law describes the electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion between two charged objects, and is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

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LESSON 1

ELECTRIC CHARGE

We can trace all electrical effects to


electrons and protons inside every atom.
This is because these particles have a
property called electric charge. The
electrons are negative and surround a
dense, positive nucleus. Protons, which
are positive, and neutrons reside in this
nucleus. Neutrons are neutral and do
not participate in electrostatic
interactions.
LESSON 1
ELECTRIC CHARGE

We can trace all electrical effects to


electrons and protons inside every atom.
This is because these particles have a
property called electric charge. The
electrons are negative and surround a
dense, positive nucleus. Protons, which
are positive, and neutrons reside in this
nucleus. Neutrons are neutral and do
not participate in electrostatic
interactions.
LESSON 1
ELECTRIC CHARGE

Just like mass, charge is a


fundamental property of subatomic
particles. The smallest amount of
charge is called the elementary
charge, indicated universally by the
symbol e. The elementary charge
has a magnitude of

1.60 x 10-19 C
LESSON 1
ELECTRIC CHARGE

The unit C stands for coulomb, named after


French physicist Charles Agustin Coulomb.
An atom normally contains the same
number of electrons and protons, so the
overall negative charge is just balanced by the
overall positive charge. The resulting charge is
zero, and thus, the atom is neutral. And just
like mass, charge is conserved. This means
that charges are neither created nor
destroyed. There is the same amount of
charge in the universe now as there has
always been.
Properties of Proton, Neutron, and Electron

Subatomic Particle Location Mass Charge

Proton Inside nucleus 1.673 x10−27kg 1.602 𝑥 10−19 𝐶

Neutron Inside nucleus 1.675 x 10−27kg 0

Electron Around nucleus 9.109 x 10−31kg −1.602 𝑋 10−19 𝐶


Example 1.1
How many electrons must an object lose so that it has a net positive charge of +1 C?
SOLUTION:
If the object loses one electron, its charge is +1.60 x 10-19 C; if two electrons are lost, the object
gains has a net charge of
2 x +1.60 x 10-19 C = 3.20 X 10-19 C.
And so forth. If we let n be the number of electrons lost and e the charge of each electron, then the total
charge Q is
Q = ne
Thus, the number of electrons the object must lose so that it has a net positive charge of +1 C is
𝑸 𝟏𝑪
n= 𝒆 = 𝟏.𝟔𝟎 𝑿 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟗𝑪 = 𝟔. 𝟐𝟓 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟖
or more than six quintillion electrons!
This problem simply shows us that a charge of 1 C is enormous.
Example 1.2
Aluminum has atomic number 13. This means that it has 13 electrons and 13
protons. What is the total charge of all the electrons in an aluminium atom?
Solution:
We are given the number n. The charge of one electron is -1.60 x 10-19 C. So, if
we have 13 electrons, each of which has a charge of -1.60 x 10-19, then the total
charge is:
Q = ne = 13(-1.60 x 10-19 C) = -2.08 X 10-18 C
Thirteen electrons altogether still have a very small charge.
In the previous lesson, we saw that like charges
repel while unlike charges attract. This suggests the
presence of an electrostatic force. This force is either
a force of attraction between a positive and a
negative charge or a force of repulsion between two
like charges. Electrostatic force holds the atom
together. The positive nucleus attracts the negative
electrons around it in a similar way that the earth and
the other planets are held in orbit around the sun by
gravity.
And this is not where the similarity
ends. Recall that the force of
gravity between two masses m1
and m2 is given by the equation:
𝑚1 𝑚2
𝐹𝑔 = 𝐺 2
𝑟
In which G is the gravitational
constant and r is the distance
between the centers of the masses.
G is the universal gravitational
constant approximately equal to
−11 2 2
6.674 x 10 N.𝑚 /𝑘𝑔
The electrostatic force between two
charges Q1 and Q2 is given by a very
similar equation, the magnitude of the
electrostatic force Fe is:
│𝑸𝟏 𝑸𝟐 │
𝑭𝒆 = 𝒌 𝟐
𝒓
This equation is called Coulomb`s Law.
It tells us that the force in newton
between two charges is directly
proportional to the product of the
magnitudes of the charges and
inversely proportional to the square of
the distance between them.
Note two things in Coulomb`s law. First, the
absolute value sign means that the result is
always positive. This is, after all, the
magnitude if the force, so it has to be
positive. Then, we see a constant k. This is
the electrostatic constant. It is related to
some fundamental constants of nature as
follows.
1
𝑘=
4𝜋𝜀0
The constant 𝜀0 is called the permittivity of
free space and is equal to 8.85 x 10 -12

coulomb squared per newton meter


squared (C2/ N. m2). The permittivity of a
medium is a measure of its ability to store
electrical energy.
Substituting the constants needed to get the
value of k, we get an approximate value of:

1 1
𝑘= = −12 2 2
4𝜋𝜀0 4𝜋(8.85 𝑥 10 𝐶 /𝑁. 𝑚
𝟗 𝟐 𝟐
= 𝟗 𝑿 𝟏𝟎 𝑵. 𝒎 /𝑪
Example 1.3
Two charged spheres Q1 = -2.00 X 10-10 C and Q2= -5.00 X 10-8 C are held fixed at
positions 5.00 cm apart.
Calculate the magnitude of each electrostatic force between the two spheres. Are the
forces attractive or repulsive?
If the first sphere is set loose, what will be its resulting acceleration? It has a mass of 5.00
x 10-3 kg.
SOLUTION:
To solve for the magnitude of the electrostatic force Fe, we substitute the values into
equation 1:
│𝑄1 𝑄2 │
𝐹𝑒 = 𝑘
𝑟2
(2.00 𝑋 10 −10 𝐶)(5.00 𝑋 10−8 𝐶)
= 9𝑥 109 𝑁. 𝑚2 /𝐶 2
(0.05 𝑚)2
= 3.6 𝑥 10−5 𝑁
The electrostatic forces are repulsive because both charges are negative.
2. If the first sphere were to be released, then it
will accelerate at a rate given by Newton`s
second law of motion:
−5
𝐹𝑒 3.6 𝑥 10 𝑁 −3 2
𝑎= = = 7.20 𝑥 10 𝑚/𝑠
𝑚 5.00 𝑋 10−3 𝑘𝑔

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