Electric Field

Analogy

The electric field is the space

around an electrical charge

just like

a gravitational field is the space

around a mass.
= 8.99 × 109 N m2 C−2
• The electrostatic force acts between all charged particles and can be attractive or
repulsive. It is the charges themselves that cause the force to exist. The force that
acts between two charges, Q1 and Q2, whose centres are separated by a distance of r
is given by:
 

• The proportional constant was found and the equation becomes:

• ε0 is the Permittivity of Free Space, ε0 = 8.854 x 10-12 F m-1

 Electric Field
• Space around a charge.
What is the difference?
 Electric Field Strength, E
• E = F/ Qo

• Qo , positive test charge

• E is a vector quantity
• Unit: N/C
• E is analogous to the gravitational field, g,
where g=F/m
 Example 1
• A charge of 3µC is used to test the electric field of
a central charge of 6C that causes a force of 800N.
What is the magnitude of the electric field?

• Answer: 2.7 x108 N/C

 Example 2
• . Find the electrostatic force between a +3.0
µC charge and a +8.0 µC charge, 0.25 m apart.
• Remember the electric field is always defined
as being in the direction that a positive test
charge would move.

• Since the source charge producing this field is

negative, a positive charge would be attracted
towards it.
Electric Field Lines
Electric Field Lines of two Positive Charges
 Electric Field Lines
• Lines that indicate the strength and direction
of the electric field.
• The more dense the lines, the stronger the
field.
• Electric field vectors are tangent to the curve.
 Which field is stronger?
• A B
 Electric Field for a Point Charge
Using E=F/qo and Coulomb’s Law prove:

E=k Q
______

r2

where Q is the central charge.

 Example 3
• A -6.0 µC charge and a -4.0 µC charge repel
each other with a force of 7.0 N. How far
apart are these point charges?
Example 4
Example 5
How Electric Field Strength varies
with distance from the point…
Two oppositely charged
plates produce a uniform
electric field between them.
The lines of force are equally
spaced and parallel. When
you move a charge around a
uniform electric field the
force on it remains constant.
So the electric field strength
is the same everywhere.

electric field strength = voltage / distance

The electric field strength between E = V/d

the plates depends on two factors:
the voltage between the plates
and the distance between them.
 Recap Example

+
 Electric potential Energy
• If two attracting charges were put in an electric field,
side by side, and then a force was applied on the
negative charge in order to separate them, the work
done to do this separation would be the electric
potential energy difference (measured in Joules)
between the two charges in their new location.
Example
Example 2
 Electric Potential, V
• Electric potential is the electrical potential
energy per unit charge (ie. per coulomb) at a
point in a field.
• It is a scalar.
• It only depends on the charge causing the field
- it is a property of the field!
• An equation for it is:
W = work done moving Q through the field (in J).
and
Q = the charge being moved through the field (in C)
 A detailed definition for potential is:
''The potential at a point in a field is equal to the work
done per coulomb in moving a positively charged
particle from infinity to that point in the field.''

Q = the charge causing the field

ε = the permittivity, usually ε0.
r = the separation between the centre of
the charge and the point you are interested
in.
 Example
• What's the potential at a point 2m from a +3C
charge?
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
 This shows that electric field strength can
also have units of Vm-1
Example
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Capacitance and the farad
Capacitance is the ability of a body to hold an electric charge.
It may also be described as the amount of electric charge for
a given voltage.

The standard unit for capacitance is the

farad (F) named after Michael Faraday,
who was the first to develop capacitors
effective enough for practical
applications, and to measure the effect of
different variables on their capacitance.
One farad is the capacitance when 1 V
voltage appears across a capacitor’s circuit symbol
plates when a charge of 1C is stored. for a capacitor
 Capacitors
• Capacitors are simple devices found in electric circuits.
• At their simplest, they are made up of two metal
parallel plates separated by a non-conductor called the
dielectric medium. (incomplete circuit)
• These capacitors are called parallel-plate capacitors
• When a voltage is applied across the capacitor, it
builds up charge on the two plates (one positive, the
other negative), in effect storing electricity.
• When connected to a potential difference (e.g.
a battery), the battery tries to push electrons
through the wire away from its negative
terminal.
• Although there isn't a complete circuit,
electrons will move to the metal plate.
• There is a flow of electrons to the plate i.e. you
get a current without a complete circuit, but
only for a short period of time.
• As the electrons build up on that plate, it
become more negative meaning,
– the plate becomes less attractive so the flow of
electrons reduces. i.e. current reduces.
– the electrons on the second plate are repelled
from the negative plate. They leave that plate to
complete the circuit.
As charge builds up, so does the pd across the
plates. Charge stored is directly
proportional to the potential difference
across the plates.

Also, if    then,

= a constant.
This constant is called
capacitance, C – the
charge per unit voltage
across the plates
measured in Farads, F.
• The amount of charge that can be stored in a
capacitor depends on several factors, but is
often stated as a single variable, the
capacitance.
• Q = CV
• Q = amount of charge stored (C)
• C = capacitance (Farads = F)
• V = voltage (V)
• Example 1: In a camera, the flash has a 185 μF
capacitor connected to two AA batteries,
causing 3.0 V of potential difference across
the capacitor. Determine how much charge
can be stored in this capacitor.
• Capacitance varies proportionally with the area, A and inversely
with the separation, d.
• As long as we assume that the dielectric constant is just a
vacuum, there is a formula that can be used to calculate the
capacitance based on a couple of factors.
• C=εo A/d
• C = Capacitance (F)
• εo = “epsilon naught” = permittivity of free space = 8.84e -12 C/V·m
• A = area of plates (m2)
• d = distance between plates (m)
• Example 2: We are building simple capacitors
in class by laying down a sheet of aluminum
foil with a surface area of 0.12 m2, then a
sheet of 0.5 mm thick card stock paper (same
area), and finally another sheet of similar
aluminum foil on top. Ignoring that the
dielectric medium (the paper) in between is
not a vacuum, determine the capacitance of
this simple resistor.
Charging Capacitors
Current falls away as it
becomes less attractive for
electrons to move to the plate
from the cell.
Charge builds up - quickly at first (a lot of
electrons arriving each second) and then
more slowly. Potential difference is
proportional to charge, so the p.d.-time
graph is exactly the same shape as the
charge-time graph.

When the capacitor is fully charged, the pd

across the plates will equal the emf of the
cell charging it.
Discharging Capacitors
Initially there is a large
current due to the large
potential difference across
the plates. The current
drops as pd drops. The
electrons are now moving
the opposite way round the
circuit so the graph shows
the current as negative to
show this.
 Charge drops quickly at first (due to the
large current - a large flow of charge). As
the charge and therefore the pd across the
plates drops, so the charge drops more
slowly.

As the potential difference across the

plates is directly proportional to the charge
on the plates, the p.d.-time graph is the
same shape as the charge-time graph as
before.
 Time Constant
• Capacitors discharge
exponentially.  As time steps forward in equal
intervals, T (called the time
constant), the charge drops by
the same proportion each time.
• The rate of removal of
charge is proportional to the
amount of charge remaining.
To calculate the time constant, T use the equation:
T = RC
Where:
T = time constant
R = resistance in the circuit (Ω)
C = capacitance of the circuit (F)

Where:
Q0 = initial charge on the capacitor
Q = charge on the capacitor at any time
t = time
RC = time constant
Finding time constant
Energy Stored in a Capacitor
Alternate equation using
frequency