FINAL TERM

1
 Reference Books
Fundamentals of Physics (Edition: 10th)
Written by Halliday, Resnick and Walker

University Physics (13/14th Edition) written

by Hugh D. Young and Roger A. Freedman
 LESSON 1

BOOK CHAPTER 22

ELECTRIC FIELDS
 Think, why……..

Lightning
Taking off the hat in Attraction between the
the winter balloon and hair

Static charge is
responsible for all of
these.

Why do you feel the shock when you

scuff your shoes across a carpet and This is due to charged particles leaping
then reach for a metal doorknob? between your finger and the doorknob.
 Nature of electric charge
Like charges repel, unlike charges attract ▪ A positive charge and a
negative charge attract each
+ - Attract other.
Charge ▪ Two positive charges or two
+ +
Repel negative charges repel each
- - other.

Charge is a conserved quantity. Electric Charge is quantized.

Charges are additive in nature.

Net charge Q = 0 q1 q2 q3
Q
Q=nxe Q

gains 2 electrons loses 2 electrons

Q= q1 + q2 + q3
The magnitude of charge of the
electron or proton is a natural unit
The principle of conservation of charge: of charge.
The algebraic sum of all the electric Every observable amount of electric The charge of an electron or a
charges in any closed system is constant. charge is always an integer multiple proton,
of this basic unit. That is charge is e = 1.6021764871402 x 10-19 C
quantized
 Coulomb’s Force (Electrostatic force)
Coulomb’s law: (Charles Augustin de 𝑞1 𝑞2
Coulomb) 𝐹=𝑘
q1 𝑟2 q2
The magnitude of the electric force
between two-point charges is directly
proportional to the product of the
charges and inversely proportional to
- r
+
the square of the distance between
them.
The magnitude F of the force that each of two-point charges q1 and q2 , a distance r apart,
exerts on other can be expressed as

𝒒𝟏 𝒒𝟐
𝑭=𝒌
𝒓𝟐
1 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝑜𝑟, 𝐹 = e = 1.6021764871402 x 10-19 C
4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝑟 2
The directions of the forces the two charges exert on each other are always along the line
joining them.
 Electric force versus gravitational force
An  particle (the nucleus of a helium atom) has mass m = 6.64 x 10-27 kg and charge q
= 3.2 x 10-19 C. Compare the magnitude of the electric repulsion between two 
(“alpha”) particles with that of the gravitational attraction between them.
Answer: The Electric repulsion force between two  particles,
1 𝑞1 𝑞2 1 𝑞2
𝐹𝑒 = =
4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝑟 2 4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝑟 2
The gravitational attractive force between two  particles,

𝑚1 𝑚2 𝑚2
𝐹𝐺 = 𝐺 =𝐺 2
𝑟2 𝑟
The ratio of electric force to gravitational force,

𝐹𝑒 1 𝑞2 9 × 109 𝑁. 𝑚2 /𝐶 2 (3.2 × 10−19 𝐶)2

= =
𝐹𝐺 4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝐺 𝑚2 6.67 × 10−11 𝑁. 𝑚2 /𝐾𝑔2 (6.64 × 10−27 𝐾𝑔)2

= 𝟑. 𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎𝟑𝟓
This astonishingly large number shows that the gravitational force in this situation is
completely negligible in comparison to the electric force.

Gravitational force always attractive but electrostatic force may be attractive or repulsive
depends on charge types.
 Force between two-point charges
Solve it by yourself !

1. Two point charges, q1= 25 nC and q2 = -75 nC are separated by a distance r = 3 cm

(Fig. a). Find the magnitude and direction of the electric force (a) that q1 exerts on q2
and (b) that q2 exerts on q1

2. Two point charges are located on the x-axis of a coordinate system: q1= 1 nC is at x =
+2.0 cm and q2 = -3.0 nC is at x = +4 cm . What is the total electric force exerted by q1
and q2 and on a charge q3 = 5.0 nC at x = 0?
 ElEctric FiEld and ElEctric ForcEs
Think
about
it….. We can answer those questions by saying
that particle 2 sets up an electric field in
When two electrically charged the space surrounding itself. If we place
particles in empty space interact, particle 1 at any given point in that
How does particle 1 “know” of the
space, the particle “knows” of the
presence of particle 2? That is,
since the particles do not touch,
presence of particle 2 because it is
how can particle 2 push on affected by the electric field that particle
particle 1—how can there be such 2 has already set up at that point. Thus,
an action at a distance? particle 2 pushes on particle 1 not by
touching it but by means of the electric
field produced by particle 2.

Can you recall that Gravity can also be thought of as an

“action-at-a-distance” force or noncontact force?
 Electric Field
An electric field is a vector field because it is responsible for conveying the
information for a force, which involves both magnitude and direction. This field
consists of a distribution of electric field vectors 𝐸, one for each point in the space
around a charged object.

We define the electric field 𝐸 at a point as the electric force 𝐹Ԧ experienced

by a test charge 𝑞0 at the point, divided by the charge 𝑞0 .That is, the
electric field at a certain point is equal to the electric force per unit charge
experienced by a charge at that point:

𝐹Ԧ
𝐸=
𝑞0
The SI unit for the electric field is the
Newton per Coulomb (N/C).

❑A charged body creates an electric field in the space around it.

❑The electric force on a charged body is exerted by the electric
field created by other charged bodies.
Electric Field lines around charged particles (Point Charges)

The field produced by a positive point The field produced by a negative point
charge points away from the charge charge points toward the charge

Electric field lines extend away from positive charge (where they
originate) and toward negative charge (where they terminate).
Field lines for a positive point charge
and a nearby negative point charge Field lines for two equal positive
that are equal in magnitude. point charges.

Electric field lines help us visualize the direction and magnitude of electric fields. The
electric field vector at any point is tangent to the field line through that point. The
density of field lines in that region is proportional to the magnitude of the electric
field there. Thus, closer field lines represent a stronger field.
 Electric Field due to a Point Charge:
If we place a small test charge +𝑞0 at the
+𝒒𝟎
field point P at a distance r from the point
+𝒒 𝑟 𝑬
charge 𝑞, the magnitude 𝐹 of the force is 𝑃
given by the Coulomb’s law,

1 𝑞𝑞0 +𝒒𝟎
𝐹= −𝒒 𝑟
4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟 2 𝑬 𝑃
The quantity 𝜺𝟎 , called the permittivity
constant. The value of 𝜺𝟎 is
+𝒒𝟎
−12 ∁2 𝒓ො
𝜀0 = 8.85 × 10 +𝒒 𝑟 𝑬
𝑁.𝑚2 𝑃

The magnitude 𝐸 of the electric field at point P is

+𝒒𝟎
1 𝑞𝑞0 𝒓ො
−𝒒 𝑟
𝐹 4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟 2 1 𝑞 𝑬 𝑃
𝐸= = =
𝑞0 𝑞0 4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟 2 In vector form,

1 𝑞 1 𝑞
𝐸= 𝐸= 2
𝑟Ƹ
4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟 2 4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟
Problem 5 (Book chapter 22)
A charged particle produces an electric field with a magnitude of 2.0 N/C at a point
that is 50 cm away from the particle. What is the magnitude of the particle’s charge?

Answer: Required formula: 1 𝑞

𝐸=
4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟 2 Given

9
𝑞 𝐸 = 2.0 𝑁/𝐶
2 = 9 × 10 2
0.50 𝑟 = 50 𝑐𝑚 = 0.50 𝑚
1
(2)(0.25) = 9 × 109 𝑁. 𝑚2 /∁2
−9 𝐶 4𝜋𝜀0
𝑞= = 0.0555 × 10
9 × 109 𝑞 =?

Problem 6 (Book chapter 22)

What is the magnitude of a point charge that would create an electric field of 1.00
N/C at points 1.00 m away?

Answer: Follow exactly similar steps as Problem 5 to

answer problem 6.
 Let’s try !!!!
Fig. 1
1. Calculate electric field at point C for figure 1.

2. Calculate net electric field at point C for fig. Fig. 2

2.

3. Calculate net electric field at the mid point +10 𝑛𝐶 − 5𝑛𝐶

of the distance between the two point Fig. 3
charges for fig. 3. d =1m

4. In the adjacent figure, two point

charges are at the corner of a square of
edge length a = 7.00 cm . In unit-vector
notation, what net electric field do the
particles produce at the square's center?

12987.2 i + 116888.6 j
THANK YOU