PHYS 281

Electrostatics
(3Cre.: 3Lec)

Dr. Mohamed Salem Badawi

Associate Professor of Radiation Physics
Vice Head of Radiation Physics Laboratory
Department of Physics
Faculty of Science
Alexandria University
Moharam Bey 21511
Alexandria
Egypt.
Fax: 002-03-3911794
Tel: +2-0100 515 4976
Contact Persons e-mail: [email protected]
Chapter 23
Electric Fields
Electric Charges
 There are two kinds of electric charges
 Called positive and negative
 Negative charges are the type possessed by electrons
 Positive charges are the type possessed by protons
 Charges of the same sign repel one another
and charges with opposite signs attract one
another
Electric Charges, 2
 The rubber rod is
negatively charged
 The glass rod is
positively charged
 The two rods will attract
Electric Charges, 3
 The rubber rod is
negatively charged
 The second rubber rod
is also negatively
charged
 The two rods will repel
Conservation of Electric
Charges
 A glass rod is rubbed with
silk
 Electrons are transferred
from the glass to the silk
 Each electron adds a
negative charge to the silk
 An equal positive charge is
left on the rod
Quantization of Electric
Charges
 The electric charge, q, is said to be quantized
 q is the standard symbol used for charge as a variable
 Electric charge exists as discrete packets
 q = Ne
 N is an integer

 e is the fundamental unit of charge

 |e| = 1.6 x 10-19 C

 Electron: q = -e

 Proton: q = +e
Conductors
 Electrical conductors are materials in which some of
the electrons are free electrons
 Free electrons are not bound to the atoms
 These electrons can move relatively freely through the
material
 Examples of good conductors include copper, aluminum
and silver
 When a good conductor is charged in a small region, the
charge readily distributes itself over the entire surface of
the material
Insulators
 Electrical insulators are materials in which all of the
electrons are bound to atoms
 These electrons can not move relatively freely through the
material
 Examples of good insulators include glass, rubber and
wood
 When a good insulator is charged in a small region, the
charge is unable to move to other regions of the material
Semiconductors
 The electrical properties of semiconductors
are somewhere between those of insulators
and conductors
 Examples of semiconductor materials include
silicon and germanium
Charging by Induction
 Charging by induction
requires no contact with
the object inducing the
charge
 Assume we start with a
neutral metallic sphere
 The sphere has the
same number of positive
and negative charges
Charging by Induction, 2
 A charged rubber rod is
placed near the sphere
 It does not touch the
sphere
 The electrons in the
neutral sphere are
redistributed
Charging by Induction, 3
 The sphere is grounded
 Some electrons can
leave the sphere
through the ground wire
Charging by Induction, 4
 The ground wire is
removed
 There will now be more
positive charges
 The charges are not
uniformly distributed
 The positive charge has
been induced in the
sphere
Charging by Induction, 5
 The rod is removed
 The electrons
remaining on the
sphere redistribute
themselves
 There is still a net
positive charge on the
sphere
 The charge is now
uniformly distributed
Coulomb’s Law
 Charles Coulomb measured
the magnitudes of electric
forces between two small
charged spheres
 He found the force
depended on the charges
and the distance between
them
Point Charge
 The term point charge refers to a particle of
zero size that carries an electric charge
 The electrical behavior of electrons and protons is
well described by modeling them as point charges
Coulomb’s Law, 2
 The electrical force between two stationary point
charges is given by Coulomb’s Law
 The force is inversely proportional to the square of
the separation r between the charges and directed
along the line joining them
 The force is proportional to the product of the
charges, q1 and q2, on the two particles
Coulomb’s Law, 3
 The force is attractive if the charges are of
opposite sign
 The force is repulsive if the charges are of
like sign
 The force is a conservative force
Coulomb’s Law, Equation
 Mathematically,
q1 q2
Fe  ke
r2
 The SI unit of charge is the coulomb (C)
 ke is called the Coulomb constant
 ke = 8.9876 x 109 N.m2/C2 = 1/(4πεo)
 εo is the permittivity of free space
 εo = 8.8542 x 10-12 C2 / N.m2
Coulomb's Law, Notes
 Remember the charges need to be in coulombs
 e is the smallest unit of charge
 except quarks

 e = 1.6 x 10-19 C
 So 1 C needs 6.24 x 1018 electrons or protons
 Typical charges can be in the µC range
 Remember that force is a vector quantity
Particle Summary
Vector Nature of Electric
Forces
 In vector form,
q1q2
F12  ke 2 rˆ12
r
 r̂12 is a unit vector
directed from q1 to q2
 The like charges
produce a repulsive
force between them
 Use the active figure to
move the charges and
observe the force
Vector Nature of Electrical
Forces, 2
 Electrical forces obey Newton’s Third Law
 The force on q1 is equal in magnitude and
opposite in direction to the force on q2
 F  F
21 12
 With like signs for the charges, the product
q1q2 is positive and the force is repulsive
Vector Nature of Electrical
Forces, 3
 Two point charges are
separated by a
distance r
 The unlike charges
produce an attractive
force between them
 With unlike signs for the
charges, the product
q1q2 is negative and the
force is attractive
 Use the active figure to
investigate the force for
different positions PLAY
ACTIVE FIGURE
A Final Note about Directions
 The sign of the product of q1q2 gives the
relative direction of the force between q1 and
q2
 The absolute direction is determined by the
actual location of the charges
The Superposition Principle
 The resultant force on any one charge equals
the vector sum of the forces exerted by the
other individual charges that are present
 Remember to add the forces as vectors
 The resultant force on q1 is the vector sum of
all the forces exerted on it by other charges:
F1  F21  F31  F41
Superposition Principle,
Example
 The force exerted by q1
on q3 is F13
 The force exerted by q2
on q3 is F23
 The resultant force
exerted on q3 is the
vector sum of F13 and
F23
Zero Resultant Force, Example
 Where is the resultant
force equal to zero?
 The magnitudes of the
individual forces will be
equal
 Directions will be
opposite
 Will result in a quadratic
 Choose the root that
gives the forces in
opposite directions
Electrical Force with Other
Forces, Example
 The spheres are in
equilibrium
 Since they are separated,
they exert a repulsive force
on each other
 Charges are like charges
 Proceed as usual with
equilibrium problems, noting
one force is an electrical
force
Electrical Force with Other
Forces, Example cont.
 The free body diagram
includes the
components of the
tension, the electrical
force, and the weight
 Solve for |q|
 You cannot determine
the sign of q, only that
they both have same
sign
Electric Field – Introduction
 The electric force is a field force
 Field forces can act through space
 The effect is produced even with no physical
contact between object
Electric Field – Definition
 An electric field is said to exist in the region
of space around a charged object
 This charged object is the source charge
 When another charged object, the test
charge, enters this electric field, an electric
force acts on it
Electric Field – Definition, cont
 The electric field is defined as the electric
force on the test charge per unit charge
 The electric field vector, E , at a point in space
is defined as the electric force F acting on a
positive test charge, qo placed at that point
divided by the test charge:
F
E
qo
Electric Field, Notes
 E is the field produced by some charge or charge
distribution, separate from the test charge
 The existence of an electric field is a property of the
source charge
 The presence of the test charge is not necessary for the
field to exist
 The test charge serves as a detector of the field
Electric Field Notes, Final
 The direction of E is
that of the force on a
positive test charge
 The SI units of E are
N/C
 We can also say that
an electric field exists at
a point if a test charge
at that point
experiences an electric
force
Relationship Between F and E
 Fe  qE
 This is valid for a point charge only
 One of zero size
 For larger objects, the field may vary over the size of the
object
 If q is positive, the force and the field are in the
same direction
 If q is negative, the force and the field are in
opposite directions
Electric Field, Vector Form
 Remember Coulomb’s law, between the
source and test charges, can be expressed
as
qqo
Fe  ke 2 rˆ
r
 Then, the electric field will be
Fe q
E  ke 2 rˆ
qo r
More About Electric
Field Direction
 a) q is positive, the force is
directed away from q
 b) The direction of the field
is also away from the
positive source charge
 c) q is negative, the force is
directed toward q
 d) The field is also toward
the negative source charge
 Use the active figure to
change the position of point
P and observe the electric
field
PLAY
ACTIVE FIGURE
Superposition with Electric
Fields
 At any point P, the total electric field due to a
group of source charges equals the vector
sum of the electric fields of all the charges
qi
E  ke  2 rˆi
i ri
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
Electric Field – Continuous
Charge Distribution
 The distances between charges in a group of
charges may be much smaller than the distance
between the group and a point of interest
 In this situation, the system of charges can be
modeled as continuous
 The system of closely spaced charges is equivalent
to a total charge that is continuously distributed
along some line, over some surface, or throughout
some volume
Electric Field – Continuous
Charge Distribution, cont
 Procedure:
 Divide the charge
distribution into small
elements, each of which
contains Δq
 Calculate the electric
field due to one of these
elements at point P
 Evaluate the total field by
summing the
contributions of all the
charge elements
Electric Field – Continuous
Charge Distribution, equations
 For the individual charge elements
q
E  ke 2 rˆ
r
 Because the charge distribution is continuous
qi dq
E  ke lim  2 rˆi  ke  2 rˆ
qi 0 ri r
i
Charge Densities
 Volume charge density: when a charge is
distributed evenly throughout a volume
 ρ ≡ Q / V with units C/m3
 Surface charge density: when a charge is
distributed evenly over a surface area
 σ ≡ Q / A with units C/m2
 Linear charge density: when a charge is
distributed along a line
 λ ≡ Q / ℓ with units C/m
Amount of Charge in a Small
Volume
 If the charge is nonuniformly distributed over
a volume, surface, or line, the amount of
charge, dq, is given by
 For the volume: dq = ρ dV
 For the surface: dq = σ dA
 For the length element: dq = λ dℓ
Calculating the Electric Field
Example – The Electric Field Due
to a Charged Rod
Calculating the Electric Field
Example – Charged Disk
Calculating the Electric Field
Example – The Electric Field of
a Uniform Ring of Charge
Electric Field Lines
 Field lines give us a means of representing the
electric field pictorially
 The electric field vector E is tangent to the electric
field line at each point
 The line has a direction that is the same as that of the
electric field vector
 The number of lines per unit area through a surface
perpendicular to the lines is proportional to the
magnitude of the electric field in that region
Electric Field Lines, General
 The density of lines through
surface A is greater than
through surface B
 The magnitude of the
electric field is greater on
surface A than B
 The lines at different
locations point in different
directions
 This indicates the field is
nonuniform
Electric Field Lines, Positive
Point Charge
 The field lines radiate
outward in all directions
 In three dimensions, the
distribution is spherical
 The lines are directed
away from the source
charge
 A positive test charge would
be repelled away from the
positive source charge
Electric Field Lines, Negative
Point Charge
 The field lines radiate
inward in all directions
 The lines are directed
toward the source charge
 A positive test charge
would be attracted
toward the negative
source charge
Electric Field Lines – Dipole
 The charges are equal
and opposite
 The number of field
lines leaving the
positive charge equals
the number of lines
terminating on the
negative charge
Electric Field Lines – Like
Charges
 The charges are equal
and positive
 The same number of
lines leave each charge
since they are equal in
magnitude
 At a great distance, the
field is approximately
equal to that of a single
charge of 2q
Electric Field Lines, Unequal
Charges
 The positive charge is twice
the magnitude of the negative
charge
 Two lines leave the positive
charge for each line that
terminates on the negative
charge
 At a great distance, the field
would be approximately the
same as that due to a single
charge of +q
 Use the active figure to vary
the charges and positions and
observe the resulting electric
field
Electric Field Lines – Rules for
Drawing
 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
 The number of lines drawn leaving a positive
charge or approaching a negative charge is
proportional to the magnitude of the charge
 No two field lines can cross
 Remember field lines are not material objects, they
are a pictorial representation used to qualitatively
describe the electric field
Motion of Charged Particles
 When a charged particle is placed in an
electric field, it experiences an electrical force
 If this is the only force on the particle, it must
be the net force
 The net force will cause the particle to
accelerate according to Newton’s second law
Motion of Particles, cont
 Fe  qE  ma
 If E is uniform, then the acceleration is constant
 If the particle has a positive charge, its acceleration
is in the direction of the field
 If the particle has a negative charge, its acceleration
is in the direction opposite the electric field
 Since the acceleration is constant, the kinematic
equations can be used
v  v o  at
v 2  Vo2  2ar
1
r  vot + at 2
2
An Accelerating Positive Charge,
Example
 The point charge can be modeled
as a charged particle under
constant acceleration.
Electron in a Uniform Field,
Example
 The electron is projected
horizontally into a uniform
electric field
 The electron undergoes a
downward acceleration
 It is negative, so the
acceleration is opposite the
direction of the field
qE
a 
 Its motion is parabolic m
while between the plates v
v  v o  at  t =
a
1 1
r  vot + at 2  r = at 2
2 2