Senior High School

NOT

General Physics 2
Quarter 3 – Module 1
Electric Charge and Electric Field

Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

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 Table of Contents

What This Module is About ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

What I Need to Know ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
How to Learn from this Module ................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Icons of this Module ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
What I Know................................................................................................................................................. iii

THIRD QUARTER
Lesson 1: Electric Charge
What Is It: Law of Charges ......................................................................................... 1

What Is It: Conductors and Insulators .....................................................................2

What Is It: Types of Charging .................................................................................... 3

What I Have Learned ................................................................................................... 4

What I can do ..................................................................................................................5

Lesson 2: Coulomb’s Law

What Is It: Coulomb’s Law ....................................................................................... 6

What I Have Learned: ............................................................................................... 8

Lesson 3: Electric Forces and Electric Field

What Is It: Electric Forces and Electric Field ...................................................... 10

What I Have Learned: ............................................................................................... 14

Summary .................................................................................................................................................... 15

Assessment: (Post-Test) ...................................................................................................................... 16

Key to Answers ......................................................................................................................................... 17

References ................................................................................................................................................. 18

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 What I Know
.

Multiple Choice. Select the letter of the best answer among the given choices.

1. Which of the following is TRUE about electric charge?

A) It can be lost. B) It is created from a chemical reaction.
C) It can be destroyed. D) It can be transferred from atom to atom.

2. Which of the following is the least effective conductor?

A) nickel B) iron C) oil D) mercury

3. Which of the following is FALSE?

A) Electric field lines never intersect.
B) The electric field lines produced by a positive charge are directed radially outward.
C) The electric field lines produced by a negative charge are directed radially inward.
D) A static charge never produces an electric field.

4. What is the direction of the electric field at the test point on the -x-axis, 50 cm from the
charge q = -5.00 nC which is located at the origin?
A) eastward B) westward C) northward D) southward

5. An electron traveling horizontally from North to South enters a region where a uniform
electric field is directed downward. What is the direction of the electric force exerted on
the electron once it has entered the field?
A) downward B) upward C) to the east D) to the west

6. The electric field has a magnitude of 3.0 N/C at a distance of 60 cm from a point charge.
What is the charge?
A) 1.4 nC B) 120 pC C) 36 mC D) 12 mC

7. What is the electric field strength at a point 50 cm from a charge q = + 5.00 nC?
A) 180 N/C B) 360 N/C C) 540 N/C D) 720 N/C

8. A 1.65 nC charge with a mass of 1.5 x 10-15 kg experiences an acceleration of 6.33 x 10 7

m/s2 in an electric field. What is the magnitude of the electric field?
A) 14.95 N/C B) 29.35 N/C C) 57.55 N/C D) 2.67 x 10-19 N/C

9. Three point charges are located on the x-axis. The first charge, q1 = +10 µC, is at x = -1.0
m. The second charge, q2 = +20 µC, is at the origin. The third charge, q 3 = - 30 µC, is
located at x = +2.0 m. What is the net force on q2?
A) 6.3 N to the negative x-direction B) 3.15 N to the positive x- direction C) 1.50 N
to the negative x- direction D) 4.80 N to the positive x- direction

10. What is the magnitude of the net electric field at (+1.0 m, 0) due to the three charges
in number 9?
A) 198, 256 N/C B) 297, 348 N/C C) 395, 425 N/C D) 472, 500 N/C

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Lesson

1 Electric Charge

What is it

The term electricity came from the Greek work elektron, or amber. It is given the name
electricity by Sir Wilhelm Gilbert because amber had been the first substance known by the
ancients to exhibit electrification by rubbing. A plastic comb rubbed with a piece of fur can
attract little bits of paper. This ability to attract resembles that of a magnet. However, the
attraction of magnets is limited to objects made of iron, while amber attracts all substances.
This attractive force is known as electrostatic force.

1.1 LAW OF CHARGES

Atoms have electric charges inside them. In the center of each atom is the nucleus.
This is made up of protons (carriers of positive charges) and neutrons (uncharged particles).
In the outer part of the atom are found the orbiting electrons (carriers of negative charges).
The most precise value of the mass of proton is 1.67262171(29) x 10 -27 kg, while that of the
electron is 9.1093826(16) x 10-31 kg. The most precise value of the mass of neutron is
1.67492728(29) x 10-27 kg. The most precise value of the magnitude of the charge of an
electron or a proton, which is denoted by e, is 1.60217653(14) x 10-19 Coulomb, C. The
numbers in parentheses are the uncertainties in the last two digits. Note that the masses of
the proton and neutron are nearly equal and are roughly 2000 times the mass of the electron.
Over 99.9% of the mass of any atom is concentrated in its nucleus. Normally, atoms have zero
net charge. They are electrically neutral because they have an equal number of protons and
electrons. But electrons do not always stay in the atoms, instead they can be removed by
rubbing.

When a plastic comb is rubbed with fur and held near a pith ball, the pith ball is attracted
to the comb. The pith ball swings away from the comb after touching the comb. If a glass rod
rubbed with silk is brought near the pith ball, it will react just as it did with the comb. It was
contended that something, a charge, had been added to the comb or the rod to attract the pith
ball. This charge is called an electric charge.

The experiments described above and many others like them have shown that there are
exactly two kinds of electric charges: the kind on the plastic comb rubbed with fur and the kind
on the glass rod rubbed with silk. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) suggested calling these two
kinds of charge negative and positive, respectively, and these names are still used. The plastic
rod and the silk have negative charge; the glass rod and the fur have positive charge.

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Two positive charges or two negative charges repel each other. A positive charge and
a negative charge attract each other.
The above statement is the same as saying, “Like charges repel while unlike charges
attract.”

Figure 1.1 Experiments in electrostatics. (a) Negatively charged objects repel each other. (b)
Positively charged objects repel each other. (c) Positively charged objects and negatively charged
objects attract each other.

1.1.1 Electric Charge is Conserved

Contained in the previous discussion are two very important principles. First is the principle
of conservation of charge:

“The algebraic sum of all electric charges in any closed system is constant.”

If we rub together a plastic rod and a piece of fur, both initially uncharged, the rod acquires a
negative charge (since it takes electrons from the fur) and the fur acquires a positive charge
of the same magnitude (since it has lost as many electrons as the rod has gained). Hence the
total electric charge on the two bodies together does not change. In any charging process,
charge is not created nor destroyed; it is merely transferred from one body to another.

The second principle is:

“The magnitude of charge of the electron or proton is a natural unit of charge.”

Every observable amount of electric charge is always an integer multiple of this basic
unit. We say that charge is quantized. A familiar example of quantization is money. When you
pay cash for an item in a store, you have to do it in one-cent increments. Cash cannot be
divided into amounts smaller than one cent, and electric charge cannot be divided into
amounts smaller than the charge of one electron or proton.

1.2 CONDUCTORS AND INSULATORS

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Electric charges are more easily moved in some materials. This characteristic led to the
classification of materials into two groups – conductors and insulators. Materials whose
electric charges are free to move within are called conductors. In some materials, electric
charges are not free to move within. Such materials are called insulators.

Most metals are good conductors, while most nonmetals are insulators. Within a solid metal
such as copper, one or more outer electrons in each atom become detached and can move
freely throughout the material. The motion of these negatively charged electrons carries
charge through the metal. The other electrons remain bound to the positively charged nuclei,
which themselves are bound in nearly fixed positions within the material. In an insulator there
are no, or very few, free electrons, and electric charge cannot move freely through the material.
Some materials called semiconductors are intermediate in their properties between good
conductors and good insulators. Certain materials known as superconductors become perfect
conductors at very low temperatures.

1.3 TYPES OF CHARGING

1.3.1 Charging by Conduction

Conductors can be charged by conduction. Conduction is the transfer of electrons from a

charged object to another object by direct contact. In the conduction process, a body with one
type of charge produces the same type of charge on a conductor.

Figure 1.2 Copper is a good conductor of electricity; nylon is a good insulator. (a) The copper wire
conducts charge between the metal ball and the charged plastic rod to charge the ball negatively.
Afterward, the metal ball is (b) repelled by a negatively charged plastic rod and (c) attracted to a
positively charged glass rod.

1.3.2 Charging by Induction

There is a different technique in which the plastic rod can give another body a charge of
opposite sign without losing any of its own charge. This process is called charging by
induction. Induction is the movement of electrons to one part of an object by the electric field
of another object. In the induction process, the opposite type of charge is produced.

Figure 1.3 shows an example of charging by induction. An uncharged metal ball is supported
on an insulating stand. When you bring a negatively charged rod near it, without actually
touching it, the free electrons in the metal ball are repelled by the excess electrons on the rod,
and they shift toward the right, away from the rod. They cannot escape from the ball because
the supporting stand and the surrounding air are insulators. So, we get excess negative charge
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at the right surface of the ball and a deficiency of negative charge (that is, a net positive charge)
at the left surface. These excess charges are called induced charges.

Not all of the free electrons move to the right surface of the ball. As soon as any induced
charge develops, it exerts forces toward the left on the other free electrons. These electrons
are repelled by the negative induced on the right and attracted toward the positive induced
charge on the left. The system reaches an equilibrium state in which the force toward the right
on an electron, due to the charged rod, is just balanced by the force toward the left due to the
induced charge. If we remove the charged rod, the free electrons shift back to the left, and the
original neutral condition is restored.

Figure 1.3 Charging by induction

Electrostatic charging can be dangerous, but it can be beneficial in a variety of practical

applications. Paper and clothes often stick together because of static cling, and an
electrostatic discharge can start a fire or cause an explosion in the presence of a flammable
gas. On the other hand, some practical applications of electrostatic charging include the
electrostatic dust precipitators, attracting droplets of sprayed paint to a car body and attracting
toner particles to charged regions of the imaging drum in a copying machine.

What I Have Learned

Instruction: Answer the following questions. Write your answer in a clean sheet of intermediate
or yellow paper.

1. What will be your charge if you scrape electrons from your feet while scuffing across
the rug?

2. How do particles with the same charge react?

3. What are the two ways of charging? Briefly explain each way.

4. Why does a rubbed inflated balloon when brought near your arm, but not touching it,
causes the hairs on your arm to raise?

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 What I can do

Deflecting water

Instructions:

1. Rub a comb vigorously with a piece of cloth (using it to comb your hair repeatedly would
also do).

2. Bring it close to, but not touching, a vertical unbroken thin stream of water (a laminar flow).

3. Observe what happens. Write your observation/s and the answer to the following questions
in your activity notebook.

Questions:

1. What causes the stream of water to deflect (bend)?

2. Why would humid conditions help in the loss of charge?

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Lesson

2 Coulomb’s Law

What is it

Matter is made up of atoms containing

electrically charged particles. Many properties
of matter result from the electrical forces of
attraction and repulsion among the particles.
Among these properties are the formation of
molecules, cohesion, and adhesion.

In 1784, Charles Agustin de Coulomb

(1736-1806), a French physicist, discovered
the nature of these electrical forces exerted by
bodies upon one another. He used a torsion
balance similar to the one used 13 years later
by Cavendish to study the much weaker
gravitational interaction. For point charges,
charged bodies that are very small in
comparison with the distance r between them,
Coulomb found that the electric force is
proportional to 1/r2. That is, when the distance
is doubled, the force decreases to ¼ of its
initial value; when the distance is halved, the force increases to four times its initial value.

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 The electric
force between two point
charges also depends on the
quantity of charge on each
body, which we will denote by q
or Q. In his experiment,
Coulomb found that the forces
that two point charges q1 and q2
exert on each other are
proportional to each charge and
therefore are proportional to the
product q1q2 of the two charges.
Thus, Coulomb established
what we now call the
Coulomb’s Law which states
that:

“The magnitude of the electric force between two point charges is directly
proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of
the distance between them.”
In mathematical terms, the magnitude F of the force that each of two point charges q1
and q2 a distance r apart exerts on the other can be expressed as

𝐹=𝑘 |𝑞𝑟1𝑞22| = 4 𝜋1𝜀0 |𝑞1𝑟2𝑞2| Eqn. 1.2.1

where k is a proportionality constant whose numerical value depends on the system of units
used. The approximate value of k is 9.0 x 109 N∙m2/C2. The constant Ɛ0 has a value of 8.854
x 10-12 C2/N∙m2. The absolute value bars are used in Eqn. 2.1 because the charges q1 and q2
can either be positive or negative, while the force magnitude F is always positive.

The direction of the forces the two charges exert on each other are always along the line
joining them. When the charges have the same sign, either both positive or both negative, the
forces are repulsive; when the charges have opposite signs, the forces are attractive. The two
forces obey Newton’s third law; they are always equal in magnitude and opposite in direction,
even when the charges are not equal in magnitude.

Sample Problems:

1. Two charges are on the x-axis. Charge q1 = +25 nC is at x = 4.00 cm while charge
q2 = -75nC is at x = 7.00 cm. Find the magnitude and direction of
a) the electric force that q1 exerts on q2; and
b) the electric force the q2 exerts on q1.

Illustration:

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 +q1 -q2 0

4 cm 7 cm
Solution:

Free-body diagram:

𝐹1𝑜𝑛 2 q2 q1 𝐹2𝑜𝑛 1

Since the two charges have opposite signs, the force is attractive. Charge q1 will tend to pull
q2 towards its location and, simultaneously, charge q2 will tend to pull q1 towards its location.

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q1q2 9

a) 𝐹 1 𝑜𝑛 = 4 r2
2 = (9.0×10 𝑁∙𝑚2/𝐶2) | (+25𝑥10−(09.𝐶03)(𝑚−75)2
𝑥10−9𝐶)| = 0.019𝑁, westward

b) Remember that Newton’s third law applies to the electric force so,
𝐹 2 𝑜𝑛 1 = 0.019 N, eastward

2. Three charges and their specific locations are given as

follows:
q1 = - 20 nC; (0, 2.00 cm) q2
= + 30 nC; (-1.00 cm, 4.00 cm) q3
= + 10 nC; (-3.00 cm, 0 cm)
Determine the magnitude and direction of the net force on
q3 using component method.

Solution:

Free-body diagram:

𝛽 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 | | = 33.690 2 𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 |2| = 26.570

3 4

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 𝑟13 = √(0.03 𝑚)2 +(0.02 𝑚)2 = 0.036 𝑚

𝑟23 = √(0.02 𝑚)2 +(0.04 𝑚)2 = 0.045 𝑚

x-component y-component
F1on3x = +F1on3 cos β F1on3y = +F1on3 sin β
= +k {|q1q3|/(r13)2} cos β = +k {|q1q3|/(r13)2} sin β
= +1.16 x 10-3 N = +7.70 x 10-4 N
F2on3x = -F2on3 sin Ɵ F2on3y = -F2on3 sin Ɵ
= -k {|q2q3|/(r23)2} sin Ɵ = -k {|q2q3|/(r23)2} cos Ɵ
= -5.96 x 10-4 N = -1.19 x 10-3 N

Fnetx = F1on3x + F2on3x Fnety = F1on3y + F2on3y

= +5.64 x 10-4 N = -4.20 x 10-4 N

The magnitude of the net force is:

2 −4𝑁
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = √[(𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡−𝑥)2 +(𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡−𝑦) ] = 7.03×10

The direction of the net force is:

𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 (|𝐹 𝑛𝑒𝑡−y |) = 33.670𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑎𝑠𝑡

𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡−𝑥

What I Have Learned

Instruction: Solve the following problems completely and neatly. Write your solution in a clean
sheet of intermediate or yellow paper.

1. Three point charges are arranged on a line. Charge q 3 = +5.00 nC and is at the origin.
Charge q2 = -3.00 nC and is at x = +4.00 cm. Charge q1 is at x = +2.00 cm. What is q1
(magnitude and sign) if the net force on q3 is zero?

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2. Two point charges are placed as follows: charge q 1 = -1.50 nC is at y = +6.00 m and charge
q2 = +3.20 nC is at the origin. What is the total force (magnitude and direction) exerted by
these two charges on a negative point charge q3 = -5.00 nC located at (2.00 m, -4.00 m)?

Lesson

3 Electric Forces and Electric Field

What is it

When two electrically charged particles in empty space interact, how does each one
know the other is there? What goes on in the space between them to communicate the effect
of each one to the other? We can begin to answer these questions, and at the same time
reformulate Coulomb’s law in a very useful way, by using the concept of electric field.

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Electric Field

Whenever you have a source charge q1 placed anywhere in space, it will be surrounded by a
region such that if you will put any other charge q2 at any field point P in this region, charge q2
will be acted upon by an electric force, Fe. We call this region around q1 the electric field of q1.
The strength of this field is operationally defined as the ratio of the electric force Fe to the
charge q2 placed at that point in the field. The magnitude of the electric field is

𝐹𝑒
𝐸= Eqn. 1.3.1
𝑞2

The electric force is a vector quantity and so is the electric field. The direction of the electric
field is along the line connecting the field point P and the source charge q1. The field lines
produced by positive charges are directed radially outward while that of negative charges are
directed radially inward.

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Note that Fe is actually the electric force between the interacting charges q 1 and q2.
Incorporating Eqn. 1.2.1 to Eqn. 1.3.1 we will have
𝑞1
𝐸=𝑘𝑟 2

In general, the magnitude of the electric field is

|𝑞|
𝐸=𝑘 𝑟2 Eqn. 1.3.2

where q is the source charge (source of the electric field) and r is the distance between the
source charge and any field point P surrounding it.

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Sample Problems:

1. A positive charge of 10-8 coulombs (C) experiences a force of 0.25 N when located at a
certain point in an electric field. Find the intensity (magnitude) of the electric field at that
point.

Solution:

Using Eqn. 1.3.1 we have,

𝐸 = 𝐹 0.25 𝑁 7𝑁/𝐶
𝑞 = 10−8𝐶 = 2.5×10

2. A positive charge, q = +20 nC, is on the y-axis at y = +4.00 cm. (a) Determine the magnitude
and direction of the electric field at the origin. (b) What will be the magnitude and direction
of the electric field at the origin if the charge is -20 nC?

Solution:

(a)

The charge is positive so the electric field lines are directed radially outward. At the origin, the
field line extends downward so the direction of the electric field is southward.

The magnitude of the electric field is given by Eqn. 1.3.2.

|𝑞| 109𝑁∙𝑚2 20×10−9𝐶

𝐸 𝑁/𝐶

(b) If the charge is -20 nC, the field lines are directed radially inward towards the charge. So,
the electric field line at the origin will be directed upward (northward). The magnitude of
the electric field has the same value as when the charge is positive.

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3. Three charges and their specific locations are given as follows:
q1 = - 20 nC; (0, 2.00 cm) q2 =
+ 30 nC; (-1.00 cm, 4.00 cm)
q3 = + 10 nC; (-3.00 cm, 0 cm)
Determine the magnitude and direction of the net electric field at the field point P (2.00 cm,
0) using component method.

𝒓𝟐𝑷 = √(𝟎.𝟎𝟑 𝒎)𝟐 +(𝟎.𝟎𝟒 𝒎)𝟐 = 𝟎.𝟎𝟓 𝒎 𝜽 = 𝒕𝒂𝒏−𝟏 (𝟒𝟑 ) = 𝟓𝟑.𝟏𝟑𝟎

x-component y-component
E1x = - E1 cos β E1y = + E1 sin β
= - 162,345.94 N/C = + 162,345.94 N/C
E2x = + E2 cos Ɵ E2y = - E2 sin Ɵ
= + 64,800.15 N/C = - 86,399.88 N/C
E3x = + E3 E3y = 0
= + 36,000.00 N/C
Enetx = - 61,545.79 N/C Enety = + 75,946.06 N/C

𝒓𝟏𝑷 = √(𝟎.𝟎𝟐 𝒎)𝟐 +(𝟎.𝟎𝟐 𝒎)𝟐 = 𝟎.𝟎𝟐𝟖 𝒎 𝜷 = 𝒕𝒂𝒏−𝟏 (𝟐) = 𝟒𝟓𝟎

𝟐
The

Illustration:

magnitude of the electric field is:

𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑡 𝑁/𝐶

The direction of the electric field is:

∅ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 𝐸 𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑦 = 50.980𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑒𝑠𝑡

𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑥

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 What I Have Learned

1. A particle has charge -3.00nC.

a) Find the magnitude and direction of the electric field due to this particle at a point 0.250m
directly above it.

b) At what distance from this particle does its electric field have a magnitude of 12.0 N/C?

2. Point charge q1 = -5.00 nC at the origin and point charge q2 = +3.00 nC is on the x-axis at x
= 3.00 cm. Point P is on the y-axis at y = 4.00 cm.
 
a) Calculate the electric fields E1 and E2at point P due to the charges q1 and q2. Express
your results in terms of unit vectors.

b) Use the results of part (a) to obtain the resultant field at P, expressed in unit vector form.

3. A +2.00 nC point charge is at the origin, and a second -5.00 nC point charge is on the xaxis
at x = 0.800 m.
a) Find the electric field (magnitude and direction) at each of the following points on the
xaxis: i) x = 0.200 m; ii) x = 1.20 m; iii) x = -0.200 m.

b) Find the net electric force that the two charges would exert on the electron placed at
each point in part (a).

15
Summary

The fundamental entity in electrostatics is electric charge.

Charge cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be transferred from one body to another
by friction or rubbing.

There are two ways of charging an object. It can be through direct contact, which is called
conduction. Another way of charging does not need direct contact and we call it charging by
means of induction.

There are two kinds of charges – positive and negative.

Like charges repel while unlike charges attract.

Materials that permit electric charge to move within them are called conductors while those
that do not are called insulators. Most metals are good conductors while most nonmetals are
good insulators.

Coulomb’s law governs the interaction of charges. The electrostatic force between charges q 1
and q2 is directly proportional to the magnitude of the product of the charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the separation distance between them. The direction of the force
is always along the line connecting the charges. If the charges are both positive or both
negative the force is repulsive; if the charges have opposite signs, the force is attractive. The
force of interaction obeys Newton’s third law of motion.

The strength of the field at a particular point is directly proportional to the magnitude of the
charge producing the field and inversely proportional to square of the distance between the
field point and the location of the charge. The closer is the field point from the source charge,
the stronger is the field strength.

Key to Answers

Pre-Test

1A 6B
2C 7A
3D 8C
4A 9B
5B 10 D

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References:

Canva. Accessed December 24, 2020. https://www.canva.com/education

Practical and Explorational Physics by Alicia L. Padua and Ricardo M. Crisostomo, pp. 245-256
Sears and Zemansky’s University Physics with Modern Physics Technology Update by Hugh
D. Young and Roger A. Freedman, 13th edition, pp. 709-734
The Basics of Physics by Arsenia V. Ferrer and Julieta dela Peña, pp. 288-298

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