GENERAL PHYSICS 2 𝒒 = 𝑵𝒆

ELECTRIC CHARGES q = charge

EARLY GREEKS N = number or electrons
AMBER e = charge of an electron (𝟏. 𝟔𝟎𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟗 𝑪)
• translucent yellowish resin rubbed
with a piece of cloth attract nearby EXAMPLE: How many electrons are there
object. in 1.5 C of negative charge?
• Queen Elizabeth I of England
• Found out that many other q = 1.5
substances posses the same ability C e = 𝟏. 𝟔𝟎𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟗 𝑪
as that of AMBER when rubbed N=?
against other substance.
SOLUTION:
Called these substance electrics and this
ability of amber electricity.

ELECTRICITY
From the Greek word elektron which means
“amber”

ELECTRIC CHARGE
Every object acquires this ability to attract
small pieces of matter after being rubbed
against another object. CONDUCTORS AND INSULATORS
Conductivity is the measure of the ease at
The object attracted is said to have acquired which an electric charges moves through a
charge or electrified material.

Static electricity charge at rest

ELECTROSTATICS
Study all phenomena associated with electric
charges at rest

CONDUCTORS - Materials allow the flow of

charges through them.

Have plenty of free electrons that can easily

move in the materials.

ELECTRIC CHARGE
• Electric charge represented as q.
• Unit for charge is coulomb (C).
• 𝟏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒐𝒎𝒃 = 𝟔. 𝟐𝟒 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟖 𝒆
• 𝟏 𝒆 = 𝟏. 𝟔𝟎𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟗 𝑪
INSULATORS - Materials that resist the flow CHARGING BY FRICTION
of charges. • Two different materials are rubbed
together.
• Electron affinity is a measure of the
attraction of an atom to an electron.
• Materials with higher electron affinity
are capable of gaining electrons from
SEMICONDUCTORS those of lower electron affinity.
• Intermediate between conductors • Triboelectric series is arranged in
and insulators. the order of increasing electron
• Conductivity is low on its pure form. affinity from top to bottom.
• Doping refers to atoms of different • One that is higher on the list will
elements in very small amounts are become positively charged.
added to pure semiconductors to
improve conductivity.

SUPERCONDUCTORS
• No resistance to flow of charges
below some critical temperatures.
• Only work at temperatures close to
absolute zero.
• Highest known critical temperature of
a superconducting material is 203 K
(−𝟕𝟎𝟎𝐂): hydrogen sulfide.

INDUCED CHARGES
Neutral Atom 𝒑+ = 𝒆−

Atom may gain or lose electrons.

Negatively charged - Atoms gained

electrons

Example:
When a glass is rubbed with silk cloth, the
rod acquires a charge of magnitude 3.45 nC.

A. Did the glass rod gain or lose

electrons?

Because the electron affinity of glass is lower

than silk in the triboelectric series, the glass
rod loses electron.
Positively charged - Atoms loses electrons
B. How many electrons were transferred COULOMB Discovered that the magnitude
during the process? of the electrical force between two charged
particles
𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒔
Electrical force is directly proportional to
the product of the magnitudes of the
charges and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them

𝑭𝒆 = electrical force
Requires physical contact between a
charging body and a neutral body. 𝒒𝟏 = charge 1
𝒒𝟐= charge 2
𝒓 = distance in meters
𝒌 = Coulomb’s Constant (𝟗. 𝟎 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟗 𝑵 ∙
𝒎𝟐/𝑪𝟐)

ELECTROSTATIC FORCE
• Much Stronger
Neutral body becomes negatively charged • Can be attractive or repulsive
when charged by a negatively charged body. • Depends on the nature of medium
between charges
Neutral body becomes positively charged
when charged by a positively charged body. GRAVITATIONAL FORCE
• Much weaker as compared to
CHARGING BY INDUCTION electrostatic force
• Body may be charged without • Only attractive
physical contact with a charged body. • Does not depend on the nature of
• Polarization happens when negative medium between masses
charges on the neutral body are
attracted toward the charging body if SAMPLE PROBLEM:
the latter is positive.
• The neutral body is then grounded Two protons are separated by a distance of
either by touching it or using a wire. 𝟑. 𝟖 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟎𝒎 in air.

CONSERVATION OF CHARGES 𝑭𝒆 = ?
Charges can neither be created nor 𝒓 = 𝟑. 𝟖 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟎 𝒎
destroyed, it only transferred from one body
to another. 𝒒𝟏 = +𝟏. 𝟔𝟎𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟗 𝑪

COULOMB’SLAW 𝒒𝟐= +𝟏. 𝟔𝟎𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟗 𝑪

𝒌 = 𝟗. 𝟎 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟗 𝑵 ∙ 𝒎𝟐/𝑪𝟐
A. Find the magnitude of the electric force
one proton exerts on the other.

PROPERTIES OF ELECTRIC FIELD LINES

B. Is this force attractive or repulsive?
Lines of force start from positively charged
This is a repulsive force because the charges
particles and end on negatively charged
are both protons.
particles.
ELECTRIC FIELD
Electric Charge (q)
Exert a force on the other charged objects
even though they are at some distance away.

Lines of force neither intersect nor breaks as

they pass from one charge to another.

Space surrounding a charged body

Causes any charged particle placed in it
experience an electric force.
ELECTRIC FIELD LINES

• Michael Faraday
• Introduced the use of electric field
lines of force to map out electric field. The greater the number of lines of force, the
stronger the electric field.
ISOLATED POSITIVE CHARGE
Electric field lines directed outward

ELECTRIC FIELD DUE TO A POINT

CHARGE
ISOLATED NEGATIVE CHARGE
Electric field lines directed inward
Electric field exists in the region of space
around a charged object or a source charge.

where:

• E = electric field (N/C)

• q = charge
• r = radius
SAMPLE PROBLEM:
Calculate the magnitude and direction of
When another charged object enters this electric filed 0.45m from a + 𝟕. 𝟖𝟓 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟗𝑪
electric field, it experience an electric force. point charge.
where:
𝒒= +𝟕. 𝟖𝟓 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟗 𝑪
𝒓 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟓 𝒎
𝒌 = 𝟗. 𝟎 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟗 𝑵𝟐 ∙ 𝒎𝟐/𝑪𝟐
SOLUTION:

ELECTRIC FIELD INTENSITY - Strength of

the electric field at a point due to the source
charge
Electric field produced by a point source
ELECTRIC FLUX
charge q • Comes from the Latin word fluxus
meaning “flow”
• Measure of the number of field lines
passing through a surface.

ELECTRIC FIELD DUE TO A POINT

CHARGE • Dot product of electric field and are
vector.
• Direction of area vector is the same
as that of a vector perpendicular to
the area.

GAUSS’S LAW
• CARL FRIEDRICH GAUSS
• Relates electric field, electric flux, and
electric charge
• The total electric flux though a
DOT PRODUCT OF ELECTRIC FIELD AND surface is the total electric charge
ARE VECTOR. 𝒒𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 inside the surface divided by 𝝐𝟎.
Φ = E ∙ 𝑨 = 𝑬𝑨 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝜽
where:

• Φ = electric flux
• E = electric field
• A = area
• 𝜽 = angle

𝝐𝟎
Permittivity of free space constant
𝟖. 𝟖𝟓𝟒𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟐 𝑪𝟐/𝑵 ∙ 𝒎𝟐

SAMPLE PROBLEM:
A flat surface of area 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓 𝒎𝟐 is rotated
through a uniform horizontal electric field of 5
N/C. What is the electric flux if the surface is
(a) parallel and (b) perpendicular to the
electric field?
where:

• 𝑬= 𝟓 𝐍/𝑪
• 𝑨 = 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓 𝒎𝟐
• 𝜽 = 𝟗𝟎𝟎 perpendicular
• 𝜽 = 𝟎𝟎 parallel
(a) parallel

SAMPLE PROBLEM:
(b) perpendicular
U = electric potential energy
𝒒𝟎 = test charge

If the test charge moves in the direction of

the electric field, potential energy
decreases.

If the test charge moves against direction of

the electric field, potential energy
increases

ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
• Scalar quantity Unit is VOLT (V).
• 1 V = 1 joule/coulomb (J/C)
• Also defined as work done to move a
unit charge from infinity to an arbitrary
point B.

ELECTRIC POTENTIAL ELECTRIC POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE

If point A is neither the ground nor infinity
(zero potential energy), then the work done
by electric force in moving a unit positive test
charge from point A to point B.

ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL
Electric potential at any point in an electric
field E is electric potential energy per unit SAMPLE PROBLEM:
charge at that point. A charge of 𝟔 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟕C is transferred from
infinity to point B. If the work done by the
electric force to do this is 1.2 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟓J, what is
the potential point B?

The electric potential a point due to a

charged particle is
Electric potential is designated as V.

where:
V = electric potential
CALCULATING ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
AND ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
DIFFERENCE

SAMPLE PROBLEM:
A point charge of −𝟔. 𝟎𝟎 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟗𝑪 is 3.00 m
from point A and 5.00 m form point B.

• Find the potential at point A and point

B.

• How much Work is done by the

electric field moving a 2.00 nC
particle from point A to point B?