Patrick Joseph Cardinal Mzaza

Department of Physics & Electronics, School of Natural & Applied

Sciences,
University of Malawi (2022)
10-Apr-23 1
Charge which is denoted by q is of two types (named by
Benjamin Franklin, 1706 -1790); positive and
negative, with the following properties:

✓ Like charges (of the same sign) repel each other.

✓ Unlike charges (of the opposite sign) attract each other.

✓ Charge is conserved - never created nor destroyed

✓ Charge is quantized - comes in an integral multiple of
fundamental amount of charge ‘e’ (according to Robert
Millikan, 1868 – 1953)

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Thus charge q = Ne, where N is an integer and e is
elementary charge and has SI unit of Coulomb (named
after Charles Augustin de Coulomb)

The fundamental (elementary) amount of charge has a

value;
e = 1.602 x 10-19 Coulombs (C) .

The charge on an electron is -e and that on a proton is

+e .

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Reference: Halliday et al. “Fundamentals of Physics,” 7th Ed.

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 There are generally two types of materials based on their
ability to allow electric charge to flow through them, and
these are;

Conductors: These materials allow charge to move

readily through them. Example: copper wire

Insulators: These materials restrict the movement of

charge. Example: Plastic

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 When insulators are rubbed , the rubbed area becomes
charged, and there is no tendency for the charge to
move into other regions of the material. The charge is
localized in the rubbed region (forming static
electricity) and the material attracts pieces of paper.

 In contrast, when conductors are charged in some

small region, the charge readily distributes itself over
the entire surface of the material.

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 If you hold a copper rod in your hand and rub the rod
with wool or fur, it will not attract a piece of paper.

 However, if you hold the copper rod with an insulator

and then rub it with wool or fur, the rod remains
charged and attracts the paper.

Q. WHY?

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 Charging by friction occurs when electrons are “wiped”
from one object onto another, by rubbing.

 If you use a cloth to rub a plastic ruler, electrons move

from the cloth to the ruler.

 The ruler gains electrons and the cloth loses electrons.

 After walking across a carpet, you get zapped when

touching a metal doorknob.

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 Electro-negativity

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 Here, a charged material (e.g. negatively charged
rubber rod) is brought into contact with an insulated
neutral conducting material (e.g. conducting sphere)

 When the rod is approaching the sphere, the excess

electrons on the rod repel electrons on the sphere,
creating local positive charges on the neutral sphere.

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 On contact, some electrons on the rod are now able to
move onto the sphere, neutralizing the positive
charges.

 When the rod is removed, the sphere is left with a net

negative charge.

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Q. What would have happened if the rubber rod
was positively charged?

Q. What can be the conclusion in terms of the

sign of the charge which the neutral material
gets after being charged by conduction?

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 This requires no physical contact.

 We bring a negatively charged rod near a neutral

sphere. The protons in the sphere localize near the rod,
while the electrons are repelled to the other side of the
sphere.

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 A wire is then brought in contact with the negative side
and allowed to touch the GROUND. The electrons will
always move towards a more massive object to
increase separation from other electrons, leaving a NET
positive sphere behind.

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 Q. How can you negatively charge a neutral
material (sphere) by induction?

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 In 1785 Charles Coulomb (1736 – 1806) experimentally
established the fundamental law of electric force
between two stationary charged particles.

 A point charge experiences electric force due to

another charge which is within its vicinity. This force is
summarized by Coulomb’s Law.

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 An electric force has the following properties:

1. It is directed along a line joining the two particles and

is inversely proportional to the square of the
separation distance r, between them.

2. It is proportional to the product of the magnitudes of

the charges, |q1| and |q2|, of the two particles.

3. It is attractive if the charges are of opposite sign and

repulsive if the charges have the same sign.

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 The following figures illustrate the direction of force that
charges exert on each other.

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 Electrostatic force between two charges q1 and q2
separated by distance r is given by:

 Where ke is Coulomb constant = 8.988×109 N×m2/C2

 Sometimes ke is given in terms of the permittivity of free
space ϵo as ke = 1/(4πϵo), where ϵo = 8.85×10-12
C2/(N×m2).

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 Coulomb's law gives the magnitude of the force
directed along a line between the two charges. The
direction is determined from the sign of the charges.

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 Example 1

 What is the force between the two point charges?

(q1= +12×10-9 C, q2= -18×10-9 C)

 F= ke q1q2/r2 = 2.16×10-5 N (attractive)

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 The electric force is a vector. This means that when
working with it, you must separate the components of
the force into x and y components and add them up as
vectors.

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 Example 2

What is the total force on q3 from q2 and q1? Given that:

q1 = 6.00×10-9 C q2 = -2.00×10-9 C q3 = 5.00×10-9 C.

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 Example 2 cont..

 We know θ = tan-1 (3m/4m) = 36.9°

 F13 = 1.079×10 -8 N ( away from q1 )
 F23 = 5.617×10 -9 N ( toward q2 )
 Now determine the total xy-components.

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  Example 2 cont..

 ΣFy = F13y + F23y,

 Fy = F13sin(36.9°) + 0 = 6.476×10-9 N

 ΣFx = -F23x + F13x

 Fx = -F23+ F13cos(36.9°) = 3.011×10-9 N

 FT = √(Fx2 + Fy2) = 7.14×10-9 N

 tan(ϕ) = Fy /Fx, so force makes an angle of ϕ = 65.1° with respect

to the x-axis

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 Exercise

 What is the value of the angle and tension in the string? At

the end of the string the mass is m = 8.0×10-2kg and the
charges are q1 = 0.6×10-6C and q2 = -0.9×10-6 C; g = 9.8
m/s2

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 An electric field exists in the region of space around a
charged object.

 The electric field exerts an electric force on any other

charged object within the field. An electric field exists
at a point if a “test” charge (q0) at that point
experiences an electric force.

 The electric field produced by a charge q at the

location of a small test charge q0 is defined as the
electric force exerted by q on q0, divided by the
test charge q0:
SI Unit: newton per
coulomb (N/C)
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 Since electric force exerted by charge q on charge q0 is
given by;

 Then Electric field ‘E’ becomes;

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 An electric field is a vector quantity meaning it has a
magnitude and a direction. So handle electric fields as
vectors.

 The direction is defined as the direction of the

electrical force that would be exerted on a small
positive test charge.

 A test charge doesn’t disturb the field.

 The magnitude of the electric field does not depend on the

test charge.

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 We illustrate electric fields with electric field lines.

 They point in the direction that a positive charge would

move.

 Their density is proportional to the magnitude of the

electric field.

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 Example
 A charge q1 = 7.0 µC is located at the origin, and a
second charge q2 = -5.0 µC is located on the x axis,
0.30 m from the origin as shown below. Find the electric
field and its direction at the point P, which has
coordinates (0, 0.40) m.

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 Solution

 First, we need to find the magnitude of the electric

field at P due to each charge.

 The fields E1 due to charge q1 and E2 due to charge

q2 are shown in figure.

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 Solution
 Their magnitudes are;

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 Solution

 We now need to resolve E1 and E2 into

rectangular components

 E1 makes an angle of 900 with the x-axis, so;

E1x = E1cos 900 = 0,

E1y = E1sin900 = 3.9 x 105 N/C

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 Solution

 E2 makes an angle of Ө with the x-axis.

 Ө = tan-1 (0.4/0.3) = 530

E2x = E2cos 530 = 1.1 x 105 N/C

E2y = -E2sin 530 = -1.4 x 105 N/C

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 Solution

The net field “E” at point P has the following

rectangular components;

Ex = E1x + E2x = 0 + 1.1 x 105 N/C = 1.1 x 105 N/C

Ey = E1y + E2y = 3.9 x 105 N/C - 1.4 x 105 N/C

= 2.5 x 105 N/C

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 Solution

The net field E at point P is therefore;

E = √(Ex2 + Ey2) = 2.7 x 105 N/C.

The direction is given by angle ɸ = tan-1 (Ey/Ex) = 660

If a third charge q is placed at point P it will experience

an electric force given by F = qE.

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 A pair of equal but unlike charges separated by a
distance d, is referred to as an electric dipole.

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 READ WIDELY.

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