Electricity

Learning Targets
1. describe using a diagram charging by rubbing
and charging by induction;
2. explain the role of electron transfer in
electrostatic charging by rubbing;
3. describe experiments to show electrostatic
charging by induction;
4. solve problems involving electric charges.
Electrostatics involves electric
charges, the forces between
them, and their behavior in
materials.
Electrostatics, or
electricity at rest,
involves electric charges,
the forces between
them, and their behavior
in materials. An
understanding of
electricity requires a
step-by-step approach,
for one concept is the
building block for the
next.
Electrical Forces and Charges

The fundamental rule at the base of all electrical

phenomena is that like charges repel and opposite charges
attract.
Electrical Forces and Charges
The Atom
Electrical forces arise from particles in atoms.
The protons in the nucleus attract the electrons and hold them
in orbit. Electrons are attracted to protons, but electrons repel
other electrons.
Electrical Forces and Charges
The fundamental electrical property to which the
mutual attractions or repulsions between electrons
or protons is attributed is called charge.

By convention, electrons are negatively charged

and protons positively charged.

Neutrons have no charge, and are neither attracted

nor repelled by charged particles.
Electrical Forces and Charges
The helium nucleus is composed of two protons and
two neutrons. The positively charged protons attract
two negative electrons.
Electrical Forces and Charges
Here are some important facts about atoms:
• Every atom has a positively charged nucleus
surrounded by negatively charged electrons.
• All electrons are identical.
• The nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons. All
protons are identical; similarly, all neutrons are identical.
• Atoms usually have as many electrons as protons, so
the atom has zero net charge.
A proton has nearly 2000 times the mass of an electron, but
its positive charge is equal in magnitude to the negative
charge of the electron.
Electrical Forces and Charges
Attraction and Repulsion
Electrical Forces and Charges
The fundamental rule of all
electrical phenomena is that
like charges repel and
opposite charges attract.
Conservation of Charge

An object that has unequal numbers of electrons and

protons is electrically charged.
Conservation of Charge
Electrons and protons have electric charge.
In a neutral atom, there are as many electrons as protons, so
there is no net charge.
Conservation of Charge

If an electron is removed from an

atom, the atom is no longer
neutral. It has one more positive
charge than negative charge.
A charged atom is called an ion.
• A positive ion has a net
positive charge; it has lost
one or more electrons.
• A negative ion has a net
negative charge; it has
gained one or more extra
electrons.
Conservation of Charge
Electrically Charged Objects
Matter is made of atoms, and atoms are made of electrons
and protons.

An object that has equal numbers of electrons and protons

has no net electric charge.

But if there is an imbalance in the numbers, the object is then

electrically charged.

An imbalance comes about by adding or removing electrons.

Conservation of Charge
The innermost electrons in an
atom are bound very tightly to the
oppositely charged atomic
nucleus.

The outermost electrons of many

atoms are bound very loosely and
can be easily dislodged.

How much energy is required to

tear an electron away from an
atom varies for different
substances.
Conductors and Insulators

Electrons move easily in good conductors and poorly in

good insulators.
Conductors and Insulators
Outer electrons of the atoms in a metal are not anchored to the
nuclei of particular atoms but are free to roam in the material.

Materials through which electric charge can flow are called

conductors.

Metals are good conductors for the motion of electric charges

because their electrons are “loose.”
Conductors and Insulators
Electrons in other materials—rubber and glass, for example—
are tightly bound and remain with particular atoms.

They are not free to wander about to other atoms in the

material.

These materials, known as insulators, are poor conductors

of electricity.
Conservation of Charge
When electrons are transferred
from the fur to the rod, the rod
becomes negatively charged.
Conservation of Charge
Principle of Conservation of Charge
Electrons are neither created nor
destroyed but are simply
transferred from one material to
another. This principle is known as
conservation of charge.
In every event, whether large-scale
or at the atomic and nuclear level,
the principle of conservation of
charge applies.
Conservation of Charge
think!
If you scuff electrons onto your shoes while walking across a rug,
are you negatively or positively charged?
Conservation of Charge
think!
If you scuff electrons onto your shoes while walking across a rug,
are you negatively or positively charged?

Answer:
When your rubber- or plastic-soled shoes drag across the rug,
they pick up electrons from the rug in the same way you charge a
rubber or plastic rod by rubbing it with a cloth. You have more
electrons after you scuff your shoes, so you are negatively
charged (and the rug is positively charged).
Charging by Friction and Contact

Two ways electric charge can be transferred are by friction

and by contact.
Charging by Friction and Contact

We can stroke a cat’s fur and hear the crackle of sparks that are produced.
We can comb our hair in front of a mirror in a dark room and see as well as
hear the sparks of electricity.
We can scuff our shoes across a rug and feel the tingle as we reach for the
doorknob.

Electrons are being transferred by friction when one material rubs against
another.
Charging by Friction and Contact
If you slide across a seat in an automobile, you are in
danger of being charged by friction.
Charging by Friction and Contact
Electrons can also be transferred from one material to another
by simply touching.

When a charged rod is placed in contact with a neutral object,

some charge will transfer to the neutral object.

This method of charging is called charging by contact.

If the object is a good conductor, the charge will spread to all
parts of its surface because the like charges repel each other.
Charging by Induction

If a charged object is brought near a conducting surface,

even without physical contact, electrons will move in the
conducting surface.
Charging by Induction
Charging by induction can be illustrated using two insulated
metal spheres.
Uncharged insulated metal spheres touching each other, in
effect, form a single noncharged conductor.
Charging by Induction

• When a negatively charged

rod is held near one sphere,
electrons in the metal are
repelled by the rod.
• Excess negative charge has
moved to the other sphere,
leaving the first sphere with
an excess positive charge.
• The charge on the spheres
has been redistributed, or
induced.
Charging by Induction
• When the spheres are separated and the rod
removed, the spheres are charged equally and
oppositely.
• They have been charged by induction, which is the
charging of an object without direct contact.
Charging by Induction
Charge induction by grounding can be illustrated using a metal sphere hanging from
a nonconducting string.
Charging by Induction
Charge induction by grounding can be illustrated using a metal sphere hanging from
a nonconducting string.
• A charge redistribution is induced by the presence of the charged rod. The
net charge on the sphere is still zero.
Charging by Induction
Charge induction by grounding can be illustrated using a metal sphere hanging from
a nonconducting string.
• A charge redistribution is induced by the presence of the charged rod. The
net charge on the sphere is still zero.
• Touching the sphere removes electrons by contact and the sphere is left
positively charged.
Charging by Induction
Charge induction by grounding can be illustrated using a metal sphere hanging from
a nonconducting string.
• A charge redistribution is induced by the presence of the charged rod. The
net charge on the sphere is still zero.
• Touching the sphere removes electrons by contact and the sphere is left
positively charged.
• The positively charged sphere is attracted to a negative rod.
Charging by Induction
Charge induction by grounding can be illustrated using a metal sphere hanging from
a nonconducting string.
• A charge redistribution is induced by the presence of the charged rod. The
net charge on the sphere is still zero.
• Touching the sphere removes electrons by contact and the sphere is left
positively charged.
• The positively charged sphere is attracted to a negative rod.
• When electrons move onto the sphere from the rod, it becomes negatively
charged by contact.
Charging by Induction
When we touch the metal surface with a finger, charges that
repel each other have a conducting path to a practically infinite
reservoir for electric charge—the ground.
When we allow charges to move off (or onto) a conductor by
touching it, we are grounding it.
Charging by Induction
Charging by induction occurs during
thunderstorms.

The negatively charged bottoms of

clouds induce a positive charge on the
surface of Earth below.

Most lightning is an electrical

discharge between oppositely charged
parts of clouds.

The kind of lightning we are most

familiar with is the electrical discharge
between clouds and oppositely
charged ground below.
Charging by Induction
If a rod is placed above a building and
connected to the ground, the point of
the rod collects electrons from the air.
This prevents a buildup of positive
charge by induction.

The primary purpose of the lightning

rod is to prevent a lightning discharge
from occurring.

If lightning does strike, it may be

attracted to the rod and short-
circuited to the ground, sparing the
building.
Charging by Induction
think!
Why does the negative rod in the two-sphere example have the
same charge before and after the spheres are charged, but not when
charging takes place in the single-sphere example?
Charging by Induction
think!
Why does the negative rod in the two-
sphere example have the same charge
before and after the spheres are charged,
but not when charging takes place in the
single-sphere example?

Answer:
In the first charging process, no contact was
made between the negative rod and either
of the spheres. In the second charging
process, however, the rod touched the
sphere when it was positively charged. A
transfer of charge by contact reduced the
negative charge on the rod.
GROUP ACTIVITY
• How is a charged object different than an uncharged object?
• How is a positively charged object different than a negatively charged object?
• Which way do electrons within a rectangular rod move when a negatively charged balloon
is brought near a positively charged rod?
• Which way do electrons within a rectangular rod move when a negatively charged balloon
is brought near a negatively charged rod?
• Which way do electrons within the rectangular rods move when a positively charged rod
is brought near a negatively charged rod?
• Which way do electrons within the rectangular rods move when a positively charged rod
is brought near a positively charged rod?
• Which way do electrons within the rectangular rods move when a negatively charged rod
is brought near a negatively charged rod?
• How does the rectangular rod become charged negatively?
• How does the rectangular rod become charged positively?
• What is happening when a negatively charged rod becomes grounded?
• What is happening when a positively charged rod becomes grounded?
• What happens when a positively charged rod is touched to a negatively charged rod?
Learning Targets
1. describe using a diagram charging by rubbing
and charging by induction;
2. explain the role of electron transfer in electrostatic
charging by rubbing;
3. describe experiments to show electrostatic
charging by induction;
4. solve problems involving electric charges;
5. calculate the net electric force on a point charge
exerted by a system of point charges;
6. describe an electric field as a region in which an
electric charge experiences a force.
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Coulomb’s Law

Coulomb’s law states that for charged particles or objects

that are small compared with the distance between them,
the force between the charges varies directly as the product
of the charges and inversely as the square of the distance
between them.
Coulomb’s Law
Recall from Newton’s law of gravitation that the gravitational
force between two objects of mass m1 and mass m2 is
proportional to the product of the masses and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance d between them:
Coulomb’s Law
Force, Charges, and Distance
The electrical force between any two objects obeys a similar
inverse-square relationship with distance.
The relationship among electrical force, charges, and
distance—Coulomb’s law—was discovered by the French
physicist Charles Coulomb in the eighteenth century.
Coulomb’s Law
For charged objects, the force between the charges varies
directly as the product of the charges and inversely as the
square of the distance between them.

Where:
d is the distance between the charged particles.
q1 represents the quantity of charge of one particle.
q2 is the quantity of charge of the other particle.
k is the proportionality constant.
Coulomb’s Law
The SI unit of charge is the coulomb, abbreviated C.
A charge of 1 C is the charge of 6.24 × 1018 electrons.
A coulomb represents the amount of charge that passes
through a common 100-W light bulb in about one second.
Coulomb’s Law
The Electrical Proportionality Constant
The proportionality constant k in Coulomb’s law is similar to G
in Newton’s law of gravitation.

k = 8.9875517923 N·m2/C2 or 8.9876 × 109 N·m2/C2

If a pair of charges of 1 C each were 1 m apart, the force of

repulsion between the two charges would be
9 billion newtons.
That would be more than 10 times the weight of a battleship!
Coulomb’s Law
Newton’s law of gravitation for masses is similar to Coulomb’s law for
electric charges.
Whereas the gravitational force of attraction between a pair of one-
kilogram masses is extremely small, the electrical force between a pair of
one-coulomb charges is extremely large.
The greatest difference between gravitation and electrical forces is that
gravity only attracts but electrical forces may attract or repel.
Example 1
• Suppose that two point charges, each with a charge
of +1.00 Coulomb are separated by a distance of
1.00 meter. Determine the magnitude of the
electrical force of repulsion between them.

Answer: F=9.0 x 10^9 N

Example 2
• Determine the nature of interaction between two
positive particles, and calculate the electric force
between these particles if they are 1 m apart. Each
of the particles has 2 nC of positive charge.

Answer: F=3.596x 10^-8 N, repulsive.

Example 3
• Two identically charged one-peso coins are 1.5 m
apart on a table. What is the charge of one of the
coins if each of them experiences a repulsive force
of 2.0 N?

Answer: q= 2.23 x 10^-5 C

The Superposition Principle
This means that if you have two or more forces
applied on a body, the body will experience the net
effect of all the forces applied.
Example 4
• Consider the following three point charges arranged along the x-
axis:
a. q1 has a charge of -8.0 µC and is located at x= -3.0 m
b. q2 carries a charge of 3.0 µC and is located at the origin
c. q3 has a charge of -4.0 µC and is located at x= 3.0 m

What is the overall force experienced by q2?

Example 5
• A charge is located at the origin with charge of 1 µC. Consider
two other charges that both have a charge of 2 µC, one located
at (1 cm, 0 cm) and the other (0 cm, 1 cm). Calculate the net
electric force on the charge.
Learning Targets
1. describe using a diagram charging by rubbing and
charging by induction;
2. explain the role of electron transfer in electrostatic
charging by rubbing;
3. describe experiments to show electrostatic charging
by induction;
4. solve problems involving electric charges;
5. calculate the net electric force on a point charge exerted
by a system of point charges;
6. describe an electric field as a region in which an electric
charge experiences a force;
7. calculate the electric field due to a system of point
charges using Coulomb’s law and the superposition
principle
An electric field is a storehouse
of energy.
Electric Fields

The magnitude (strength) of an electric field can be

measured by its effect on charges located in the field. The
direction of an electric field at any point, by convention, is
the direction of the electrical force on a small positive test
charge placed at that point.
Electric Fields
An electric field is a force field that surrounds an electric charge or group
of charges.
Electric Fields
An electric field is a force field that surrounds an electric charge or group
of charges.
A gravitational force holds a satellite in orbit about a planet, and an
electrical force holds an electron in orbit about a proton.
Electric Fields
An electric field is a force field that surrounds an electric charge or group
of charges.
A gravitational force holds a satellite in orbit about a planet, and an
electrical force holds an electron in orbit about a proton.
The force that one electric charge exerts on another is the interaction
between one charge and the electric field of the other.
Electric Fields
An electric field has both magnitude and direction. The
magnitude can be measured by its effect on charges
located in the field.
Imagine a small positive “test charge” placed in an
electric field.
• Where the force is greatest on the test charge, the
field is strongest.
• Where the force on the test charge is weak, the
field is small.
Electric Fields
The direction of an electric field at any point, by
convention, is the direction of the electrical force on a
small positive test charge.
• If the charge that sets up the field is positive, the
field points away from that charge.
• If the charge that sets up the field is negative, the
field points toward that charge.
Example 1
• Calculate the electric field that a test charge will
experience on the following distances from the source
charge of +5.02 x 10^13 C.
a. Distance from source charge: 2.04 x 10^-3 m
b. Distance from source charge: 1.53 x 10^-12 m
Example 2
• A charge of +3.0 x 10^-8 C experiences an electrostatic
force of 6.0 x 10^-8 N. Compute the force per
coulomb that the charge experiences.
Example 3
• Compute the electric field experience by a test charge
q= +0.80 µC from a source charge q=+15 µC in a
vacuum when the test charge is placed 0.20 m away
from the other charge.
Example 4
• Find the electric field at a point P located midway
between the charges when both charges are positive
as shown.
Electric Field Lines

You can use electric field lines (also called lines of force) to
represent an electric field. Where the lines are farther
apart, the field is weaker.
Electric Field Lines
Since an electric field has both magnitude and direction, it is a
vector quantity and can be represented by vectors.
• A negatively charged particle is surrounded by vectors
that point toward the particle.
• For a positively charged particle, the vectors point away.
• Magnitude of the field is indicated by the vector length.
The electric field is greater where the vectors are longer.
Electric Field Lines
You can use electric field lines to represent an electric field.
• Where the lines are farther apart, the field is weaker.
• For an isolated charge, the lines extend to infinity.
• For two or more opposite charges, the lines emanate
from a positive charge and terminate on a
negative charge.
Electric Field Lines
a. In a vector representation of
an electric field, the length of
the vectors indicates the
magnitude of the field.
Electric Field Lines
a. In a vector representation of
an electric field, the length of
the vectors indicates the
magnitude of the field.
b. In a lines-of-force
representation, the distance
between field lines indicates
magnitudes.
Electric Field Lines
a. The field lines around a single positive charge extend to infinity.
Electric Field Lines
a. The field lines around a single positive charge extend to infinity.
b. For a pair of equal but opposite charges, the field lines emanate
from the positive charge and terminate on the negative charge.
Electric Field Lines
a. The field lines around a single positive charge extend to infinity.
b. For a pair of equal but opposite charges, the field lines emanate
from the positive charge and terminate on the negative charge.
c. Field lines are evenly spaced between two oppositely charged
capacitor plates.
Let’s try this!

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Let’s try this!

- -
Let’s try this!

+ + -
Let’s try this!

+ + - -
So what?
Electric field lines are represented by arrows
showing the direction of the electric field from
the positive charge to the negative charge. In
life, people who have positive values tend to be
givers, whereas individuals with negative
attitudes just want to take without giving.

Reflect Upon: Recall a personal

experience when you have been
a giver.