Chapter-12 Electrostatics.

Electrostatics:
▪ The word electrostatics is composed of two words ‘electro’ and ‘statics’.
▪ Electro means charge.
▪ Static means rest.
▪ Electrostatics is the branch of physics which deals with the study of charges when they are at rest.
▪ Electrostatic is the study of static charges.

Charge:
▪ The concept of charge was introduced by Benjamin Franklin and William Gilbert.
▪ Charge is defined as the fundamental or intrinsic property of body through which it attracts or repels
other body.
▪ Its symbol is q.
▪ S.I unit of charge is Coulomb.
▪ Other unit of charge is Faraday.
▪ Its dimension is AT.
▪ Charge is measured by coulomb meter.
▪ One Coulomb equals to 1.036x𝟏𝟎−𝟓 Faraday.
▪ One Faraday equals to 96500 Coulombs.
▪ One Coulomb charge contains 6.25x𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟖 electrons.

Define One Coulomb?

When one Ampere current flows through a given section of wire in one second then the magnitude of charge
causing this current is equals to be one Coulomb.
1Coulomb=1Ampere x 1Second

How Body Becomes Charged?

• Body is neutral when it has equal numbers of electron and proton.Hence net charge on this is zero.
• When body lose electrons it becomes positively charged because number of electrons decreases.
• When body gains electrons it becomes negatively charged because number of electrons increases.

Elementary Charge.
• Elementary charge is defined as the magnitude of charge on one electron or one proton.
• The charge of electron is -1.6x10−19 Coulomb.
• The charge of proton is 1.6x10−19 Coulomb.
• Elementary charge is symbolized by e.
• Elementary charge on electron is symbolized by -e.
• Elementary charge on proton is symbolized by +e.
• Elementary charge is the minimum possible charge in this universe.
• The charge less than elementary charge does not exist in the universe.

Conservation Of Charge.
• In an isolated system total charge of body remains unchanged.It neither by created nor be destroyed.
• Neutron consists of one electron and one proton hence net charge on it is zero that’s why it is neutral.
0 −1 +1
n →e +P

Prepared By Haider Ali Sohail.

Quantization Of Charge.
• Charge on other bodies is the integral multiple of the magnitude of elementary charge.
q=ne
Where e is elementary charge and n is no of electrons [1,2,3,4,5,…]

Formula To Find Number Of Electrons In One Coulomb Charge.

Formula to find number of electrons in Coulomb charge is derived from the formula of quantization of charge.
q=ne
𝐪
n=
𝐞
𝟏
n=
𝟏.𝟔𝐱𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟗

n=6.25x𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟖 electrons.

Point Charges.
Point charges are the charges whose distance is larger than their sizes.
Point charge is the important concept used in Coulomb’s law.
When distance between point charges is 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟓 m or greater than 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟓 m then Coulomb’s law is applicable.

Some Values For Numericals.

• 1 Mega Coulomb=C
• 1 Micro Coulomb=C
• 1 Nano Coulomb=C
• 1 Pico Coulomb=C
• 1 Fento Coulomb=C

Prepared By Haider Ali Sohail.

 Coulomb’s Law:
Introduction:
This law was given by French military engineer Charles Coulomb in 1784.By this law he give the formula to
calculate the electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion between charges.

Statement:
The magnitude of electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion between two point charges is directly
proportional to the product of magnitude of charges and is inversely proportional to the square of distance
between them.

𝐪𝟏 𝐪𝟐

𝐫𝟐

Mathematical Representation:
𝐅𝛂𝐪𝟏 𝐪𝟐
𝟏
𝐅𝛂 𝟐
𝐫
Combining above equations we get:
𝐪𝟏 𝐪𝟐
𝐅𝛂 𝟐
𝐫
𝐊𝐪 𝐪
𝐅 = 𝟏𝟐 𝟐
𝐫

Coulomb’s Constant K.
• K is a constant of proportionality known as Coulomb’s constant.
• Its S.I unit is 𝐍𝐦𝟐 ∕ 𝐂 𝟐.
• Its dimension is
• Its value is
• It depends upon medium between charges and system of units.
• Its value can be obtained by the formula given below.
𝟏
𝐤=
𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎

What Is Permittivity?
• Permittivity is the property of medium which effects the magnitude of electrostatic force between
charges.
• Permittivity is the resistance by medium in electrostatic force between charges.
• Its symbol is epsilon 𝛆.
• If medium have large permittivity then it gives less permission to electrostatic force but if medium have
low permittivity then it gives more permission to electrostatic force.Here we concluded that permittivity
is inversely proportional to permission:
𝟏
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝛂
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

Prepared By Haider Ali Sohail.

 Coulomb’s Constant Without Medium.
• It is the permittivity of vacuum or air.
• Its symbol is epsilon not or epsilon zero 𝛆𝟎 .
• Its S.I unit is
• Its dimension is
• Its value is
• When medium between charges is vacuum or air or free space then coulomb’s constant is given as:

𝟏
𝐤=
𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎

Formula Of Coulomb’s Law For Vacuum For Free Space:

If the medium between two charges is air or vacuum or free space then formula of Coulomb’s law becomes:
𝐊𝐪𝟏 𝐪𝟐
𝐅=
𝐫𝟐
𝟏 𝐪𝟏 𝐪𝟐
𝐅= 𝐗 𝟐
𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎 𝐫
𝐪𝟏 𝐪𝟐
𝐅=
𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎 𝐫 𝟐

Coulomb’s Constant With Medium.

If the medium between two charges is other than vacuum or air or free space then permittivity of that medium is
compared with the permittivity of free space and this is called relative permittivity or permittivity of dielectric.
𝟏
𝐤=
𝟒𝛑𝛆
𝛆 = 𝛆𝟎 𝛆𝐫
𝟏
𝐤=
𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎 𝛆𝐫

Formula Of Coulomb’s Law For Vacuum For Medium:

𝟏
If we introduce the medium or dielectric between two charges then electrostatic force reduces by a factor .
𝛆𝐫
𝐊𝐪𝟏 𝐪𝟐
𝐅𝐦𝐞𝐝 =
𝐫𝟐
𝐪𝟏 𝐪𝟐
𝐅𝐦𝐞𝐝 =
𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎 𝛆𝐫 𝐫 𝟐
𝟏 𝐪𝟏 𝐪𝟐
𝐅𝐦𝐞𝐝 = [ ]
𝛆𝐫 𝟒𝛑𝛆𝟎 𝐫 𝟐
𝟏
𝐅𝐦𝐞𝐝 = 𝐱 𝐅𝐯𝐚𝐜
𝛆𝐫
𝐅𝐯𝐚𝐜
𝐅𝐦𝐞𝐝 =
𝛆𝐫

What is relative permittivity?

• Relative permittivity is the ratio of electrostatic force in vacuum and electrostatic force in medium.
• Relative permittivity is electrostatic force in vacuum divided by electrostatic force in medium.
• Its symbol is 𝛆𝐫 .
𝐅
• Its formula is 𝐅𝐦𝐞𝐝 = 𝐯𝐚𝐜
𝛆𝐫
• It has no unit.
• It is dimensionless.
• Relative permittivity of vacuum is 1.
• Relative permittivity of air is 1.0006.

Prepared By Haider Ali Sohail.

Prepared By Haider Ali Sohail.