PHYS 122:

Electricity and
Magnetism, Vibrations
and waves

Lecture 3
Electric Charge and Electric
Field
PHYS-122 MUST 2017 1
ELECTRIC CHARGE
•DEFINITION: is the physical property of matter that causes it to
experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field.
• Two kinds of electric charge
• Negative charge: An object has an excess of electrons.
• Positive Charge: An object has excess protons.

•Charges of the same sign repel one another and

charges with opposite signs attract one another .
• In an isolated system, an electric charge is always
conserved, i.e. a charge is not created between objects rubbing
against each other, but rather transferred from one object to the
other.

• Charge is quantized: electric charge is always a multiple

integral of a fundamental amount of charge.
CONDUCTORS, INSULATORS AND INDUCED
CHARGES
•Electrical conductors are materials in which some of the electrons
are free electrons that are not bound to atoms and can move relatively
freely through the material. E.g. copper, aluminium, and silver.

•Electrical insulators are materials in which all electrons are bound

to atoms and cannot move freely through the material. E.g. Glass, rubber,
etc.

•Charges can be induced either by conduction or induction

•Charging an object by induction requires no contact with the

object inducing the charge.

•During charging by conduction, both objects acquire the same

type of charge. Charging by conduction requires a contact between
the charged object and the neutral object (the object being
charged).
Example1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
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?

• Hint… Which charge ‘tests’ the field

• Answer: 2.7 x108 N/C

Example 2
• A test charge of +3µC is located 5m to the east of a -4µC charge.
• A) Find the electric force felt by the test charge.
• B) Find the electric field at that location.

• Answer: 4.32x10-3 N, 1.44 x 103 N/C along the –x axis.

(I FOUND DIFF.POWERS….X10^9)
Example 3
• If a test charge is moved to a location three times as far as its original
location, how does the electric field change?
• Inverse-Square Law says… 1/9
Example 4
• Calculate the electric field felt by a positive test charge located half
way between a charge of +1C and a charge of -3C, that are 2m apart.

• Answer: 3.6 x 1010 N/C (toward the -3C charge)

• The following are the rules for drawing electric field lines:
1. The lines must begin on a positive charge and terminate on a
negative charge. In the case of an excess of one type of charge,
some lines will begin or end infinitely far away.
2. The number of lines drawn leaving a positive charge or approaching
a negative charge is proportional to the magnitude of the charge.
3. No two field lines can cross.

Figure 4
(a) For a positive point charge, the lines are directed radially outward.
(b) For a negative point charge, the lines are directed radially
inward.
 (a) (b)
Figure 5
•(a) The electric field lines for two equal and opposite point charges
(an electric dipole). (b) The electric field lines for two positive point
charges.

•Question:
• Rank the magnitudes of the electric field at points A, B, and C in Figure 5
(b)
• Page 815 Serway Phy 4 Sci and Eng 6e
 The Electric Field

Sample Problem
A positive charge of 1.0 x 10-5C experiences a force of 0.30N when located at
a certain point. What is the electric field intensity at that point?

Solution
E=F/q = 0.30N / 1.0 x 10-5 C = 3.0 x 104 N/C

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 The Electric Field

Sample Problem
A test charge experiences a force of 0.20 N on it when it is placed in an
electric field intensity of 4.5 x 105 N/C. What is the magnitude of the charge?

Solution
q=F/E = 0.20N / 4.5 x 105 N/C = 4.4 x 10-7 C

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 The Electric Field

Sample Problem
A positive charge of 10-5 C experiences a force of 0.2N when
located at a certain point in an electric field. What is the electric
field strength at that point?

Solution
F= 0.2N q=10-5C
E= F/q = 0.2N/10-5C = 2 x 104 N/C

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 Measuring Potential Difference (Voltage)
Electric Strength can also be defined in units of work and energy. This
alternative way of measuring the strength of an electric field entails finding
the potential difference, which exits between any two points. To visualizing
this difference picture an electric field, then trying to force a test charge in
between two points, if the test charge is repelled, we have to do work to push
it into place. This process is also simplified into the formula

In this formula, ,W is work, q is the magnitude of charge, and V

is voltage or potential difference.

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 Measuring Potential Difference (Voltage)

Sample Problem
It takes 5.0 x 10-3 J of work to move a positive charge of 2.5 x 10-4C from
point X to point Y on an electric field. What is the difference of Potential
between X and Y?

Solution
W= 5.0 x 10-3 J q = +2.5 x 10-4C
V = W/q = 5.0 x 10-3J/2.5 x 10-4C = 20 J/C = 20 volts

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 
E P E1P  E 2P  E 3P  ....
r10 
+q1 E 30
r20 
+q2 E 20
P 
+q3 r30 E10

 kq1 kq 2 kq 3
E P  2 rˆ10  2 rˆ20  2 rˆ30  ....
r10 r20 r30
  q1 q2 q3  N
qi
E P k  2 rˆ10  2 rˆ20  2 rˆ30  ....  k  2 rˆi 0
23-9-2018
 r10 FCI
r20 r30  i 1 ri 0
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 Superposition Example
• Find the electric field due to q1, E1
• Find the electric field due to q2, E2
• E = E1 + E2
• Remember, the fields add as vectors
• The direction of the individual fields is
the direction of the force on a positive
test charge

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