General Physics

Electricity and Magnetism

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

• Charging an object:
An object is neutral when it has equal amount of
electrons and protons
• A macroscopic object is positively charged when it has
deficiency of electrons and negatively charged when it has
excess of them.
• Transfer of electrons to\from a macroscopic solid object can
happen:
1. By rubbing 2. By induction
 Electric Charges
• Charges of the same sign repel one another and charges
with opposite signs attract one another

• Electric charge is always conserved in an isolated

system
– For example, charge is not created in the process of rubbing
two objects together
– The electrification is due to a transfer of charge from one object
to another
• The SI unit of charge is the Coulomb C
Electric Charges
 Check Point 1
Q: After two insulated neutral objects A and B are rubbed
together. It is observed that A attracts a third charged
object C . Do you you expect B to:
a. attract
b. repel
c. neither attract nor repel
the third object C?

Hint: Consider conservation of electric charge.

 Quantization of Electric Charge
• The electric charge, q, is said to be quantized
– q is the standard symbol used for charge as a variable
• Electron: q = -e
• Proton: q = +e
• e is the fundamental unit of charge
• e = 1.6 x 10-19 C

– Electric charge exists as discrete packets

q = Ne
• N is an integer
 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
– Semiconductors made from these materials are
commonly used in making electronic chips

• The electrical properties of semiconductors can be

changed by the addition of controlled amounts of certain
atoms to the material
 Check Point 2
Q: How many electrons will make 0.1 Nano Coulombs of
negative charge?

Hint: e = 1.6 x 10-19 C

 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
b:
• A charged rubber rod is placed near
the sphere
– It does not touch the sphere

• The electrons in the neutral sphere are

redistributed

c:
• The sphere is grounded

• Some electrons can leave the sphere

through the ground wire
 Charging by Induction, 3

d:
• 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, 4
e:
• 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

• Note the rod lost none of its negative

charge during this process
 Check Point 3
Q: If you want to charge a neutral plastic sphere with a
positive charge by induction, what must the charge on the
rod that you use be?

a. Positive
b. Negative
c. You can not charge the sphere by induction.
 How does a rubbed balloon get
stuck to the wall?
• A process similar to induction can take
place in insulators

• The charges within the molecules of

the material are rearranged

• The proximity of the positive charges

on the surface of the object and the
negative charges on the surface of the
insulator results in an attractive force
between the object and the insulator
 Coulomb’s Law

• Charles Coulomb measured the magnitudes

of electric forces between two small charged
spheres

• 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

• The electrical force between two stationary

point charges is given by Coulomb’s Law
 Coulomb’s Law
• The term point charge refers to a particle of zero size
that carries an electric charge.

• However, there are no physical particles with zero size !

• Particles carrying electric charge can be approximated

as point charges if their dimensions are much smaller
than the distance between them.

• The force is a conservative force.

 Coulomb’s Law
q1 q2
• Mathematically, 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/(4πo)
– o is the permittivity of free space
– o = 8.8542 x 10-12 C2 / N.m2
 Coulomb's Law
• Remember the charges need to be in coulombs

• Typical charges can be in the µC range

• Remember that force is a vector quantity

 Coulomb's Law Vector Form

• In vector form,
q1q2
F12  ke 2 rˆ12
r
• r̂12 is a unit vector directed from q1 to q2.

•If the charges are of the same type, the product of q1q2 is
positive so the force is parallel to the unit vector r̂12 .
Otherwise product of q1q2 is negative and the force is anti-
parallel to it.
 Coulomb's Law Vector Form
• Electrical forces obey Newton’s Third Law
r r
F21  F12
• The force by q2 on q1 is equal
in magnitude and opposite in
direction to the force by q1 on q2 .
 Check Point 4

Q: For the two point charges shown in the figure, we

will have 𝑟12
Ƹ = −𝑖Ƹ for:
a. 𝑭𝟏𝟐 for 𝑞1 and 𝑞2 of the same sign.
b. 𝑭𝟐𝟏 for 𝑞1 and 𝑞2 of the same sign.
c. 𝑭𝟐𝟏 for 𝑞1 and 𝑞2 of opposite signs.
d. Never.
 Multiple Charges
• 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

• For example, if four charges are present, the resultant force

on one of these equals the vector sum of the forces exerted
on it by each of the other charges
r r r r
F1  F21  F31  F41
 Check Point 5

Object A has a charge of +2 C, and object B has a

charge of +6  C. Which statement is true about the
electric forces on the objects?
r r
(a) Fr AB  3rFBA
(b) FABr  FBAr
(c) 3rFAB  r FBA
(d) Fr AB  3F
r BA
(e) FAB  FBA
r r
(f) 3FAB  FBA
Applying Coulomb’s Law: Example

The force between two oppositely charged

point charges.
Applying Coulomb’s Law: Example

Find the net force on the charge q3 shown in

the figure.
 Electric Field
• The electric force is a field force

• Field forces can act through space

– The effect is produced even with no physical contact
between objects

• An electric field is said to exist in the region of space

around a charged object
– This charged object is the source charge
 Electric Field

A region in space is different after

bringing a charge into it than it was
before !
 Electric Field

When another charged object, the test

charge, enters this electric field, an
electric force acts on it.
 Electric Field

• The electric field is defined as the electric force on the

test charge per unit charge:
F
Eº
qo

• 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.
 Electric Field
• The electric field vector, E , at a point in space is
defined as the electric force acting on a positive test
charge, qo, placed at that point divided by the test
charge:
F
Eº
qo
 Electric Field
r
• The direction of is that of the
E
force on a positive test charge

r
• The SI units of E are N/C
r
E

• We can also say that an electric

field exists at a point if a test charge
at that point experiences an electric
force.
More About Electric Field Direction
 Relationship Between F and E
•
Fe = qE
– This is valid for q a point charge only
– q can be positive or negative

– For larger objects, i.e when q is not a point charge, 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
 Check Point 6

Q: A negative charge q of magnitude 20 μC

experiences a force of magnitude 2N when
placed in a given electric field. What is the
magnitude of the electric field at the position of
the charge?
 E as a Force Tariff of Space
• We can think of the electric field created in the space
around some source charge as an assignment of a “force
tariff ” for all points in that space.

• Every point in space will have a value for the magnitude

and direction of the force per unit (positive) charge at that
space, i.e. it will have a “force tariff” which is just E .
 E as a Force Tariff of Space
• E is a function of space; generally it varies from a point to
a point. It can also vary over time if the source charge q
also does.

• To find the force on any charge q placed at any point in

space, multiply it by the force tariff at that point:

Fe = qE
 Check Point 7

A test charge of +3 C is at a point P where an external

electric field is directed to the right and has a magnitude
of 4  106 N/C. If the test charge is replaced with
another test charge of 3 C, what happens to the
external electric field at P?
(a) It is unaffected.
(b) It reverses direction.
(c) It changes in a way that cannot be determined.
 Electric Field of a Point Charge
• Remember Coulomb’s law, between the source and test
charges, can be expressed as
qqo
Fe = ke r̂
r 2

• Then, the electric field of a point charge will be

Fe q
E= = ke 2 r̂
qo r
More About Electric Field Direction
 Check Point 8
−9
A point charge q= −9 × 10 C is at the origin.
The electric field due to this charge at a point
on the negative y-axis 0.3 meters from the
origin is:
a. −900𝑗Ƹ N\C
b. 900𝑗Ƹ N\C
c. 300𝑗Ƹ N/C
d. −300𝑗Ƹ N/C.
 Electric Fields from Multiple
Charges
• We need the electric field at point P due to the three charges.

• This can be found by Linear Superposition.

• At any point P, the total electric field due to a group of source point
charges equals the vector sum of the electric fields of all the charges

qi
E = ke å r̂
2 i
i ri
 Check Point 9

Q:Two charges Q1 and Q2 of

equal magnitudes and opposite
signs are positioned as shown in
Fig. 21-7. Which of the shown
arrows represents correctly the
electric field at point P?
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
Example: Electric Field of Two Point Charges

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)
Example: Electric Field of Two Point Charges

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.
 Electric Field Lines
• Field lines give us a means of
representing the electric field
pictorially

• The electric field vector is tangent to

the electric field line at each point

• 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
• 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
non-uniform
 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
Electric Field Lines, Point 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

• Since there are no negative

charges available, the field
lines end infinitely far away
 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
 Check Point 8

Rank the magnitudes of the electric

field at points A, B, and C shown
in the figure (greatest magnitude
first).
 Check Point 9

Q: The electric field lines showing

a uniform electric field are those in
Figure:
a. A only
b. B only
c. C only
d. D only
e. A and B
f. C and D
g. A,B,C and D
 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

• 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
Dq
DE = ke 2 r̂
r
– Evaluate the total field by summing the
contributions of all the charge elements
Dq dq
E = ke lim å 2 i r̂i = ke ò 2 r̂
Dqi ®0
i ri r
 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

• The amount of charge, dq, within a small element of

volume, surface, or line is given by:
– For the volume: dq = ρ dV
– For the surface: dq = σ dA
– For the length element: dq = λ dℓ
Example: The electric field due to a charged
wire

The corona wire in a photocopier is used to charge the paper before

toner is released to print the image. The wire has a length 𝑙 a uniform
positive charge per unit length λ and a total charge Q. Calculate the
electric field at a point P that is located along the long axis of the wire
and a distance a from one end.
 Calculation of the Electric Field Problem-
Solving Strategy
•Conceptualize
– Establish a mental representation of the problem
– Sketch a graph. Is the charge distributed over a line, surface or volume?
– Identify what you will take as dq. This depends on the symmetry of the
problem and needs experience.
– See what the symmetry of the charge distribution tells you about the total field
upon summing over all charges, e.g. cancellation of some component of the
field, possibility of using previous results…etc.

•Analyze:
– Express dq in terms of the charge densities
– What is the integration variable/ what are the limits of integration?
– Change of variables?
– Bring the integral into final. Check if integration amounts really to summing
over all the charge.
– Integrate.
 Calculation of the Electric Field
•Finalize: Problem-Solving Strategy
- Check units of the final answer.
- Check limits, if applicable.
 Example: The electric field of a
uniform ring of charge
A ring of radius 𝑎 carries a uniformly distributed positive
total charge Q. Calculate the electric field due to the ring at
a point P lying a distance x from its center along the central
axis perpendicular to the plane of the ring.
 Example: The electric field of a uniformly
charged disc
The electric field of a uniformly charged disc A disc of radius R has a
uniform surface charge density σ. Calculate the electric field at a point P
that lies along the central perpendicular axis of the disc and a distance x
from the center of the disc.
 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 Charged Particles

•
Fe = qE = ma

• If the field is uniform, then the acceleration is constant

• The particle under constant acceleration model can be applied

to the motion of the particle
– The electric force causes a particle to move according to the models of
forces and motion

• 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
 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

• Its motion is parabolic while between

the plates
 Example: Positive Charge in A
Uniform Electric Field
A uniform electric field 𝐸 is directed along the x
axis between parallel plates of charge aligned
along the y axis and separated by a distance d. A
positive point charge q of mass m is released from
rest at a point close to the positive plate and
accelerates to a point close to the negative plate.
(A) Find the speed of the particle when it has
almost reached the negative plate.
(B) Find the speed of the particle at B by modelling
it as a non-isolated system (energy method).