FALL 2017/2018

GENERAL PHYSICS II:

Faculty of Engineering and Technology at Sampoerna

University
Electric Charge
Electric Charge
Electric Charge
Characteristics of electric force

The force acts without physical contact between the two objects.

The force can be either attractive or repulsive: electrostatic repulsion and

electrostatic attraction, respectively.

Not all objects are affected by this force.

The magnitude of the force decreases (rapidly) with increasing separation distance
between the objects.
Electric Charge
The Source of Charges: The Structure of the Atom

The electrons in an atom are in a cloud surrounding the nucleus, and can be separated
from the atom with relative ease.
Electric Charge

All electrons have exactly the same charge

The charge on the proton (in the atomic nucleus) has the same magnitude but
the opposite sign
an electrically neutral twin of the proton, with no electric
charge, but (nearly) identical mass to the proton is Neutron
Electric Charge

We find that the total electric charge of the universe is a constant:

Electric charge is conserved.
electric charge is quantized in units of e.
The atom that has lost an electron is now positively charged – it is a positive ion
The atom that has gained an electron is now negatively charged – it is a negative ion
Insulators and Conductors

Conductor: A material whose conduction electrons are free to move throughout.

Most metals are conductors.
Insulator: A material whose electrons seldom move from atom to atom. Most
insulators are non-metals.
Semiconductors have properties intermediate between conductors and insulators;
their properties change with their chemical composition.
Photoconductive materials become conductors when light shines on them
Insulators and Conductors
Polarization: separation of positive and negative charge

Electric Dipole
Insulators and Conductors
charging by induction

create charged objects without transferring charge

Insulators and Conductors
charging by induction
Coulomb’s Law

The electric force on one of the charges is proportional to the magnitude of its
own charge and the magnitude of the other charge

It is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them

Coulomb’s law
Coulomb’s Law

If there are multiple point charges, the forces add by

superposition
the net electric force on our test charge is simply the
vector sum of each individual electric force exerted on it
by each of the individual test charges
Coulomb’s Law
Electric Field
Suppose we have N source charges q1,q2,q3,…,qN located at positions r⃗ 1,r⃗ 2,r⃗ 3,…,r⃗ N,

applying N electrostatic forces on a test charge Q. The net force on Q is (see Equation 5.2)

the electric field (E) at position P=P(x,y,z) of the N source charges.

Electric Field
Electric Field

A field, in physics, is a physical quantity whose value depends on (is a

function of) position, relative to the source of the field.

In the case of the electric field, Equation 5.4 shows that the value of E⃗ (both the
magnitude and the direction) depends on where in space the point P is located, measured
from the locations r⃗ i of the source charges qi.

electric field is a vector quantity, the electric field is

referred to as a vector field

a field that has only a magnitude at every point is a scalar

field example : Temperature

The electric field, then, is the mechanism by which the

electric properties of the source charge are transmitted to
and through the rest of the universe
Electric Field
Superposition and Direction of the field

Experimental fact about the field is that it obeys the superposition principle
calculate the total electric field of many source charges by calculating the electric field of
only q1 at position P, then calculate the field of q2at P

The total electric field, then, is the vector sum of all these fields

the convention that the direction of any electric field vector is the same as the direction of the
electric force vector that the field would apply to a positive test charge placed in that field.

Such a charge would be repelled by positive source charges (the force on it would point away
from the positive source charge) but attracted to negative charges (the force points toward the
negative source).
Example:
Example:
Calculating Electric Fields of Charge Distributions

The charge distributions we have seen so far have been discrete: made up of individual point
particles.

This is in contrast with a continuous charge distribution, which has at least one nonzero
dimension

If a charge distribution is continuous rather than discrete, we can generalize the definition of the electric
field. We simply divide the charge into infinitesimal pieces and treat each piece as a point charge.

charge is quantized, there is no such thing as a “truly” continuous charge distribution

the total charge creating the field involves such a huge number of discrete charges that
we can safely ignore the discrete nature of the charge and consider it to be continuous
Calculating Electric Fields of Charge Distributions
Calculating Electric Fields of Charge Distributions
Calculating Electric Fields of Charge Distributions

The meaning of r in these equations: It is the distance from the charge element (qi,λdl,σdA,ρdV)to the location of
interest, P(x,y,z) (the point in space where you want to determine the field).

However, don’t confuse this with the meaning of rˆ; we are using it and the vector notation E⃗to write three
integrals at once. That is, Equation 5.9 is actually
Example:
 THE ELECTRIC FIELD

• Group of fixed charges exert a force F, given by

Coulomb’s law, on a test charge qtest at position
r.
qtest
F
r

• The electric field E (at a given point in space) is the

force per unit charge that would be experienced by
a test charge at that point.

E = F / qtest This is a vector function of position.

 THE ELECTRIC FIELD

Strength of electric field

Direction of the
electric field Superposition of electric field
 ELECTRIC FIELD LINES
Electric field lines (lines of force) are continuous lines
whose direction is everywhere that of the electric field

Electric field lines:

1) Point in the direction of the electric field E
2) Start at positive charges or at infinity
3) End at negative charges or at infinity
4) Are more dense where the field has greater magnitude
ELECTRIC FIELD LINES
ELECTRIC FIELD LINES (POINT
CHARGE)

Electric Field Field Lines

(vector) (Lines of force)

Electric field lines (lines of force) are continuous lines

whose direction is everywhere that of the electric field
 Force Due to an Electric Field
F=qE

the definition of E around.

If E(r) is known, the force F on a q
charge q, at point r is:
+

F = q E(r)

The electric field at r

Electric field lines are
points in the direction
bunched closer where
that a positive charge
the field is stronger.
placed at r would be
pushed.
Electric Dipole

+q
d

-q

The electric dipole: two equal and opposite charges (q and -q ) separated by
distance d.
 The Electric Dipole
+q
d

-q

Dipole Moment p
magnitude = qd,
p
direction = from -q to +q
HE ELECTRIC DIPOLE

E
+q
d

q -q

The dipole is placed in a uniform electric field (i.e., E is the same

everywhere in space).
THE ELECTRIC DIPOLE

the total force acting on the dipole

Zero, because the force on the two charges cancel: both have magnitude qE.
The center of mass does not accelerate.
 THE ELECTRIC DIPOLE

E F+
+q
d
F-
q -q

What is the total force acting on the dipole?

the force acting on the dipole : Zero, because the force
on the two charges cancel: both have magnitude qE. The
center of mass does not accelerate.
But the charges start to move (rotate)
torque because the forces aren’t colinear
 F+

d +q d sin q
F-
q -
q

The torque is:

t = (magnitude of force) (moment arm)
t = (qE)(d sin q)

and the direction of t is (in this case)

into the page
 q
d +q E
p

q -q

but we have defined : p = q d

and the direction of p is from -q to +q

Then, the torque can be written as:

t = pxE t = p E sin q

with an associated potential energy

U = - p.E