Physics Laboratory Report

Title: Electrostatics Lab number: 201 – Electric Field by Point

Charges
Name: Chandru Vasudevan Group ID: 7

Date of Experiment: _2/11/2022_ Date of Report Submission: 2/14/2022_

Course & Section Number: Phys121A006 Instructor’s Name: Topu Saha
Partners’ Names: Joshua Villanueva, Nicholas Zubrzycki, and
Julia Torres

1. INTRODUCTION (5 points)
1.1 OBJECTIVES
i To compute electric field and corresponding field lines formed by point charges using MATLAB.
1.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
i You have learned in class that there are two kinds of electric charge, which are positive and
negative charges. Electrons are identified as a negative charge carrier, while protons are
positively charged. The fact that charges of the same sign repel one another and charges with
opposite signs attract one another implies that there is attractive or repulsive force acting
between electrically charged objects. The first quantitative investigation of this electric force was
made by Charles Coulomb, and it is found that the magnitude of the electric force between two-
point charges A and B separated in the distance of r is given by Coulomb's law:
Fe = ke|qs||qt|/r2
9 2 2
ii where ke (=8.9876 x 10 Nm /C ) is called the Coulomb constant and qs, and qt are charges
of two electrically charged objects. Since force is a vector quantity, Coulomb's law in vector
form for the electric force exerted by a source charge qs, on a test charge qt, (written as Fst) is:
Fst= rst*ke(qs*qt)/r2
iii where rst is a unit vector directed from the source charge s toward the test charge t.
iv An electric field (field of electric force) is present in the region of space around a charged
object (source charge, qs). When another charged object (test charge) enters this electric field,
an electric force act on it. The electric field vector Eat a position of a positive test charge is
defined as the electric force F due to the source charge acting on the test charge divided by the
test charge, qt:
E = (Fe/ qt) = rst*ke(qs)/r2
v of which Sl units of newtons per coulomb (N/C). The direction of an electric field at any point
of the test charge is same as that of the electric force on the positive test charge. The
magnitude of electric field is the electric force strength per unit charge. The magnitude of the
electric field is inversely proportional to squared distance between source and test charges as
described by
E = (Fe/ qt) = ke*qs/r2
vi Electric field lines are widely used to visualize the electric field in a pictorial representation.
The electric field lines are related to the electric field in a manner as followings:
1 The electric field vector E is tangent to the electric field line at each point. The line has
a direct line indicated by an arrowhead, which is the same as that of the electric field
vector. The direction of the line is that of the force on a positive test charge placed in the
field.
2 The number of lines per unit area through a surface perpendicular to the lines is
proportional to the magnitude of the electric fields in that region. Therefore, the field
lines are close together where the electric field is strong and far apart where the field is
weak.
vii For the charge +q (positive), the electric field vector at the point (x,y) is given by:
1 E = (1/4πε0)*(q/r2)*cos(θ)i + (1/4πε0)*(q/r2)*cos(90-θ)j
2 cos(θ) = x/r and cos(90-θ) = y/r, where r2 = x2 + y2
3 E = (q/4πε0)*(x/r3)i + (q/4πε0)*(y/r3)j, where k = (1/4πε0) = 8.9876 x 109 Nm2/C2
2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE (5 points)
✔ Since the experimental procedure carried out in the lab is the same as the lab procedure contained
within the NJIT Physics 121A Lab Manual, the Experimental Procedure will not be rewritten here.
3 RESULTS (30 points in total)
3.1 EXPERIMENTAL DATA (15 points)
✔ Example: Point Charges

✔ Part 1: Manipulation of Electric Fields

✔ Part 2: Electric Fields of Two-Point Charges

4 ANALYSIS and DISCUSSION (35 points)
✔ By following the instructions both in the lab manual and that received from our professor, we were
successfully able to compute electric field and corresponding field lines formed by point charges
using MATLAB.
✔ Example of Point Charges:
• As shown in Figures 1 and 2, we were able to successfully simulate the electric field of a
positive and negative point charge respectively using MATLAB. In Figure 1 – the Positive
Point Charge Field – the electric field lines point away from the center of the charge,
whereas in Figure 2 – the Negative Point Charge Field – the electric field lines point toward
the center of the charge.
✔ Part 1:
• In Part 1, we manipulated two electric fields and set them against each other to create a
graph of the Total Electric Field versus the position of a test charge x within that field. We
manipulated the fields three times to include one scenario in which both point charges were
positive (Figure 3), one scenario in which one point charge was positive and the other point
charge was negative (Figure 4), and one scenario in which both point charges were
negative (Figure 5).
• Why is it important to exclude the points x = 1 and x = -1?
o For all three scenarios, we needed to exclude the points x = 1 and x = -1 since those
are the locations of the centers of the two-point charges on the x-axis and would
therefore not reflect an accurate reading for the graph.
• We already know that the electric field varies as the square of the distance between two-
point charges. Why do the equations for electric field above vary as distance cubed in the
denominator?
o For all three scenarios, the equations for electric field vary as the cubed of the
distance in the denominator rather than the square of the distance in the
denominator since the distance from the point charges to the test charge x needs to
be accounted for. This would therefore increase the square relationship to a cubed
one.
• Make a plot of the total electric field from x = -2.1 to x = 2.1.
o Does the electric field equal 0 at the origin?
▪ For all three scenarios, the electric field does indeed equal zero at the origin.
o Would you expect it to?
▪ This is expected since the fields of both charges begin to weaken as they
reach the origin. This is verified by the fact that even in the scenario where
one of the point charges is positive and the other is negative - where there
would be a force of attraction between the particles instead of a cancelling
repelling force if both of the charges were either positive of negative - the
force of attraction between the two sharply dips to zero at the equilibrium
point, proving that the fields are too weak to have an impact on one another.
o Assume that the two charged remain fixed. If you place a positive test charge at the
origin (motion constrained to x axis) would the test charge, be at a point of stable
equilibrium. Why or why not?
▪ For the scenarios in which both point charges were positive or negative, if a
positive test charge was placed at the origin, the test charge would be at a
point of stable equilibrium, since the repelling forces from the similarly
charged particles would cancel each other out at the origin and help keep the
test charge there.
▪ On the contrary, for the scenario in which one particle was positive and the
other was negative, the positive test charge would be repelled by the positive
charge and attracted by the negative charge, making this an unstable
equilibrium point for it.
✔ Part 2:
• In Part 2, we generalized the concepts of electric fields to the world of two dimensions in
creating graphs of the field lines of two-point charges interacting with each other. We
created a scenario in which both points were positive, and the field lines repelled from each
 other (Figure 8) and one scenario in which one point was positive, and the other was
negative, and the field lines were attracting each other (Figure 9). In Figure 8, we saw that
the electric fields of both point charges forced each other out of the way in an equidistant
manner, repelling and clearing the field lines in between them and directing them to the
sides. In Figure 9, we saw that the electric fields of both point charges were embracing each
other, so much so that field lines on the back of the positive point charges were drawn
inward to those field lines on the back of the negative point charge.
5 CONCLUSIONS (10 points)
✔ Through the conduction of this experiment, we were able to use MATLAB software to successfully
create field lines for both one- and two-point charges and see how they interacted with each other
in a one- and two-dimensional space, thus satisfying the primary lab objective to successfully
compute electric field and corresponding field lines formed by point charges using MATLAB
6 Attachment of Raw Data (5 points)
✔ Since this experiment was conducting using MATLAB software, there is no raw datasheet. As such,
no raw data will be attached with this lab report.