MODULE 1

Electrostatics

Cat attracts pieces of polystyrene foam due to the electrostatic interaction

between the cat’s fur and the polystyrene foam.

Silk clothing feels sticky during a thunderstorm, hair raises near plastic chairs in an air-conditioned
room, and TV displays momentarily distorted during a lightning flash. These phenomena occur because of the
influence the tiny electrically charged particles in the atom exert on the world we live in. Life would be
impossible without the forces associated with the charged particles. Electrostatics is the study of electric
charges, electric fields, and the forces associated with them.

Prior Knowledge
Take note of the prerequisites before you proceed in this module.
You should be able to: Where it is learned
1. Take measurements and do unit conversions Junior High School Science, Mathematics and TechVoc
lessons; Senior High School science, mathematics and
TechVoc lessons
2. Distinguish between vector and scalar Junior High School Physics and Mathematics lessons,
quantity Senior High School Physics and Mathematics lessons
3. Differentiate or integrate polynomial Differential and Integral Calculus lessons
functions
4. Differentiate the sine and cosine functions Differential and Integral Calculus lessons

Objectives
After finishing this module, you should be able to:
1. Determine the electrostatic force between two charge particles.
2. Calculate the electric force on a charge in an electric field.
3. Determine the electric field on a point from a charged conductor.
4. Compare and contrast Coulomb’s Law with Newton’s Universal
http://hyperphysics.phy-
Law of Gravitation
astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/elefor.html
Figure 1.1 Force between charges.

Key Concepts

A. Electric charge, q, - Like mass, electric charge is also a physical

property of matter. It causes matter to experience a force
when placed in an electromagnetic field. There are two types
of electric charge: positive and negative.
SI unit: coulomb, C

B. Electric Field, ⃑⃑ , - This is a region of space surrounding a

http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/PY106/Electricfield.html
charged object. When another charged object is placed in this
Figure 1.2 Electric field, pointing radially
region it experiences a force collinear with the field. This is
from (+) or towards (-) the charge
analogous to the gravitational field surrounding a mass object
which causes another mass object to experience gravitational
 force when placed in it. But, unlike gravitation which is only attractive, the force due to the electric
field is either attractive or repulsive depending on the types of charges involved.
SI unit: newtons per coulomb, N/C

Atoms have positively charge nuclei and negatively charged electrons

surrounding them.

Particle Charge sign Mass Charge

Proton, p + 1.673 x 10-27 kg 1.602 x 10-19 C
Electron, e - 9.109 x 10-31 kg -1.602 x 10-19 C
Neutron, n 0 1.675 x 10-27 kg 0 Figure 1.3 Carbon atom

 An electrically stable atom or molecule has equal number of electrons and protons.
 An ion is an atom or molecule that has a net electrical charge.
 Cation, or positively-charged ion, is an atom or a molecule that has a net positive charge. It means
there are more protons than electrons in it.
 Anion, or negatively-charged ion, is an atom or a molecule that has excess electrons giving it a net
negative charge.
 Ionization or ionisation is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive
charge by gaining or losing electrons.

An uncharged material has equal number of protons and electrons. Materials with excess electrons are
negatively (-) charged whereas materials with electron deficiency are positively (+) charged. Materials are
charged in different ways:

1. Charging by friction (triboelectric charging) – some materials have greater affinity for electrons than
others. When two materials of different electron affinities get in contact with each other, the material
with lesser affinity losses electrons to the one that has the greater affinity. The former gains (+) net
charge while the latter gains (-) net charge. Electrons are not removed by friction. Rather, friction
increases the amount of contact between the materials.

https://www.stickmanphysics.com/

Figure 1.4 (above) The PVC pipe is made of material that has greater
affinity to electrons than the cotton rag. When the two objects come in
contact with each other many times by rubbing them together, the PVC
gains a net negative charge and the rag gains net positive charge.

Figure 1.5 (right) Triboelectric series lists down common materials in

order of their affinities for electrons.

2. Charging by Conduction (contact) – two objects will come into physical contact with each other

physicsclassroom.com
Figure 1.6 a neutral metal sphere rests upon an insulating platform. When a positively charged plate touches
the metal sphere, electrons are drawn off the sphere and onto the plate. The plate now has less excess +
charge and the metal sphere now has an excess of + charge.
 Charging by conduction requires conductors. Conductors are materials that permit electric
charge to move easily between them. On the other hand, insulators are materials that impede the
flow of charges. All metals are conductors while non-metals, except graphite, are insulators. Typical
metalloids are only fair conductors.

3. Charging by Induction - Induction charging is a method used to charge an object without actually
touching the object to any other charged object. It is a more complex process that requires more
steps than the previous two. Below is a common example of charging by induction.

An uncharged metal A negatively charged rod is drawn The electrons flow to the After wire is disconnected and
sphere rests on an near the sphere. Electrons on the ground when a wire connects rod putted away, the electrons
sphere near the rod are repelled the sphere to the ground. on the sphere rearrange
insulating stand.
as far away as possible on the themselves evenly. The sphere
sphere now has a positive net charge.
Figure 1.7

 Conservation of Charge
In an isolated system, the charging process does not change the total electric charge of the
system. Charges are just being transferred from one object to another. Charges are neither created
nor destroyed.

Coulomb’s Law
Named after Charles Augustin de Coulomb (1785), Coulomb’s Law states that the
electrical force between two charged objects is directly proportional to the product of the
quantity of charge on the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them.

| |

̂ ̂ Figure 1.8 Charles-

Augustin de Coulomb
(1736-1806) was a
French military engineer
– quantity of charge on object 1 (in coulombs, C) and physicist. He is best
– quantity of charge on object 2 (in coulombs, C) known as the
– separation distance between the two objects (in meters) eponymous discoverer of
what is now called
̂ – the unit vector directed from the charge exerting the force to the charge to which the Coulomb's law
force is exerted
– electrostatic constant (in vacuum)

Important things to remember:

 Coulomb’s Law applies to point charges only. A point charge is a dimensionless hypothetical charged
object.
 The force of interaction must lie along the line of action between two point charges.
 The force of interaction have equal magnitudes but opposite directions.

Principle of Superposition
When two or more charges exert force on a test charge , the net force on the charge is the vector
sum of the forces exerted by the individual surrounding charges.
In components:

̂ ̂ ̂

Figure 1.9 Point charges interacting with q0

Electric Field, ⃑ – This is a region in space where an electric charge can

experience an electric fore.

(left) Figure 1.10 The force exerted on

a charge . If is positive, then ⃑⃑⃑
and ⃑ are in the same direction. If
is negative, the directions of and ⃑
https://byjus.com/physics/electric-field-lines/
are opposite.
Figure 1.11 Electric field of a point
charge is directed radially outward if
positive (+) or inward if negative (-).

University Physics 12th Ed.

Figure 1.12 directions of unit vector ̂ and electric field vector set up by positive and negative charges

The electric field produced by a single charge to a test charge is:

⃑ ̂
with magnitude:
| |

where | ⃑ | – electric field magnitude at the position of the test charge .

Principle of Superposition of Electric Fields

For several source charges, the total electric field is
⃑ ⃑ ⃑
⃑ ⃑ ⃑ ⃑

Lines of Force or Electric Field Lines

Electric field lines are imaginary lines of
force which show the direction of electric field
at any point. The direction of the electric field at
that point is tangent to the line of force at that
point. Perpendicular to the electric field lines
(shown as broken lines in Figure 1.13) are
equipotential lines which we shall discuss in the
following modules.
Brilliant.org
Figure 1.13 Electric field lines for objects with opposite charges and
objects with the same charge.
Properties of Electric Field Lines:
 They do not form close curves. Electric field lines always begin on a positive charge and end on a
negative charge.
 The number of electric field lines leaving a positive charge or entering a negative charge is
proportional to the magnitude of the charge.
 Electric field lines are always perpendicular to the surface of the conductor.
 Electric field lines never intersect.
 The field lines are straight, parallel, and spaced evenly in a uniform electric field.
 The lines never start and end on the same charge. They never form closed loops.
 These field lines always flow from higher potential to lower potential.
 A region with zero electric field has no electric field lines.
 The tangent to an electric field line at any point gives the direction of the electric field at the point.
Also, this is the path on which a positive test charge will tend to move if free to do so.
 The density of the field lines represents the magnitude of the electric field.

Continuous Charge Distribution

If a charge distribution is continuous along a line, over a surface, or through a volume, we can
generalize the definition of the electric field. To calculate the electric field at a point P in space a distance from
the charge distribution, we divide the charged line, surface, or volume into infinitesimal pieces and treat each
piece as a point charge. We then sum up all the contributions of the infinitesimal point charges to the electric
field at a point P.

For Linear Charge Distribution

|⃑ | ∫

Where

For Surface Charge Distribution

|⃑ | ∫

Where

For Volume Charge Distribution

|⃑ | ∫

Where

phys.libretexts.org
Figure 1.14 Charge distribution
Electric Dipoles
Electric dipoles are a pair of point charges with equal magnitude but opposite signs. The net electric
force acting on a dipole in a uniform field is equal to zero.

The magnitude of the net torque of an electric dipole is

where , is the distance
between the two charges.
In terms of the electric dipole moment , torque can
be expressed as
⃑

Figure 1.15 Although the net force in on the

The direction of electric dipole moment electric dipole is zero, the dipole tends to
is from the negative to the positive charge along rotate clockwise due to the torque directed
the line joining the two charges. into the page.

(left) Figure 1.16 Water molecule is an electric dipole with dipole moment
pointed from the oxygen atom towards the more positive hydrogen atoms.

Sample Problems:

1. The electron and proton of a hydrogen atom are separated (on the average) by a distance of
approximately 5.3 x 10-11 m. Find the magnitudes of the electric force and the gravitational force
between the two particles. (Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Raymond Serway)

Use Coulomb’s law to find the magnitude of the electric force:

Use Newton’s law of universal gravitation (for the particle masses) to find the magnitude of the gravitational force:

2. Consider three point charges located at the corners of a right

triangle as shown in the figure, where q1 = q3 = 5.00µC, q2 = -2.00µC,
and a = 0.100 m. Find the resultant force exerted on q3.
(Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Raymond Serway)

Because charge q3 is near two other charges, it will experience two electric forces.
These forces are exerted in different directions as shown in the figure. Based on the
forces shown in the figure, estimate the direction of the net force vector.

Use Coulomb’s Law to find the magnitude of .

Find the magnitude of the force .

Find the x and y components of the force .

Find the components of the resultant force acting on q3.

Express the resultant force acting on q3 in unit-vector form.

3. A water droplet of mass 3.00 x 10-12 kg is located in the air near the ground during a stormy day. An
atmospheric electric field of magnitude 6.00 x 103 N/C points vertically downward in the vicinity of
the water droplet. The droplet remains suspended at rest in the air. What is the electric charge on the
droplet?

Imagine the water droplet hovering at rest in the air. This situation is not what is normally observed, so something must be
holding the water droplet up. We can model the droplet as a particle in two fields: the gravitational field and the electric
field. Because there is no observed acceleration in the droplet, we can say that the particle is in equilibrium.

Newton’s Second Law from the particle in equilibrium model:

(vertical axis only)

Rearrange variables and solve for the charge on the water droplet, q.

4. Charges q1 and q2 are located on the x axis, at distances a and b,

respectively, from the origin as shown in the figure.
a. Find the components of the net electric field at the point P,
which is at position (0, y).
b. Evaluate the electric field at point P in the special case that
|q1| = |q2| and a = b.
c. Find the electric field due to the electric dipole when point P is
a distance y >> a from the origin.

a. Find the magnitude of the electric field at P due to charge q1:

Find the magnitude of the electric field at P due to charge q2

 The electric field vectors in unit-vector form for each charge are

The components of the net electric field vector are

b. Evaluate the electric field at point P in the special case that |q1| = |q2| and a = b.

In cases like this, we take advantage of the symmetry. Using the equations we
derived from a,

Evaluate cos ϴ

Perform necessary substitution and evaluate Ex

c. If the value of a is very small compared to y (y >> a), then we can neglect a. The expression for E becomes

5. A ring-shaped conductor with radius a and

charge +Q uniformly distributed around it.
Find the electric field at a point P that lies on
the axis of the ring at a distance x from the
center.

For continuous charge distributions, we divide first the

ring into infinitely small segments (infinitesimal) of
length ds which will have a charge dQ. Let dE be the
electric field on the point P due to the charge element
dQ.
Note that the problem has symmetry with respect to the axis of the ring (x-axis). Hence the electric field of the
ring is:

⃑ ̂ ∫ ∫ ̂

The charge element dQ can be written as

and

We now integrate, noting that r and x are constant for all points on the ring:

⃑ ∫ ̂ ̂
⁄ ⁄

This gives the predicted result. Note that for x much larger than a (the radius of the ring), this reduces to a
simple Coulomb field. This must happen since the ring looks like a point as we go far away from it.

⃑ ̂

Exercise No. 1

1. A point charge is at the origin. Setting this point charge as the source point, what is the unit vector ̂
in the direction of
a. the field point at x = 0, y = -1.35 m;
b. the field point at x = 12.0 cm, y = 12.0 cm;
c. the field point at x = 1.10 m, y = 2.60 m?
Express your results in terms of the unit vectors ̂ and ̂.

2. Two equally charged small spheres are 20cm apart. How many excess electrons must be present on
each sphere if the magnitude of the force of repulsion between them is 4.57 x 10-21 N?
Answer: n=891

3. An object having a net charge of 24 µC is placed in a uniform electric field of 610 N/C directed
vertically. What is the mass of this object if it “floats” in the field?
Answer: 1.49g

4. Two particles having charges q1 = 0.500nC and q2 = 8.00nC are separated by a distance of 1.20m. At
what point along the line connecting the two charges is the total electric field due to the two charges
equal to zero?
Answer: 0.24m

5. Two point charges are placed on the x-axis as follows:

q1 = 4.00nC at x = 0.200m
q2 = 5.00nC at x = -0.300m
What are the magnitude and direction of the total force exerted by these two charges on a negative
point charge q = -6.00nC that is placed at the origin?
Answer: 2.4 x 10-6 N ̂

6. Three equal positive charges q are at the corners of an equilateral triangle of

sides as shown.
a. At what point in the plane of the charges (other than infinity) is the
electric field zero?
b. What are the magnitude and direction of the electric field at P due to the
two charges at the base?
 Answer: a.) at the center b.) √ ⁄ , upward

7. Four point charges are at the corners of a square of side a, as

shown. Determine the magnitude and direction of the electric
field at the location of charge q.
Answer: ⁄ ̂ ̂

8. A very long and straight wire has charge per unit length 1.50 x
10-10 C/m. At what distance from the wire is the electric field
magnitude equal to 2.50 N/C?
Answer: 1.08m

9. Determine the electric field at the center, P, of the

curvature of the uniformly charged semicircle.
Answer: ⁄