Chapter 23

Electric Fields
Properties of Electric Charges
 There are two kinds of
electric charges in nature:
 Positive
 Negative
 Like charges repel one
another and Unlike
charges attract one
another.
 Electric charge is
conserved.
 Charge is quantized
q=Ne
e = 1.6 x 10-19 C
N is some integer
2
Quick SAP
Question 1
An iron atom has 26 protons in its nucleus, (a) How many
electrons does this atom contain? (b) How many electrons
does the Fe ion contain?
Quick SAP
Three objects are brought close to each other, two at a
time. When objects A and B are brought together , they
attract. When objects B and C are brought together ,
they repel. From this, we conclude that (a) objects A and
C possess charges of the same sign. (b) objects A and
C possess charges of opposite sign. (c) all three of the
objects possess charges of the same sign. (d) one of the
objects is neutral. (e) we need to perform additional
experiments to determine information about the charges
on the objects.
 Conducting Properties of Materials
 Insulators are materials in which electric charge
does not move easily
 They can be charged, but charge doesn’t move well
 Glass, rubber, plastic, wood, and paper are examples
 Conductors are materials in which electric charge
moves easily
 When an area becomes charged, charge distributes itself
over entire surface
 Copper, aluminum, and silver are examples
 Charge will remain on conductor if you hold it with an
insulator
 Semiconductors are materials that have electrical
properties somewhere between conductors and
insulators
 Silicon and germanium are examples
 Methods of Charging/Discharging
 Charging by rubbing
 Increases surface area of contact and enhances charge
transfer
 Works for insulators but not for conductors
 Charging by conduction
 Charged object brought in contact with a neutral object
 Neutral object becomes charged with same sign of charge
as object doing the charging
 Works when (originally) neutral object is insulated
 Discharging by grounding
 Negative charge leaves (or enters) object through
conducting path to Earth or other limitless reservoir of
charge
 Third opening of electrical outlets is the ground (connected
to ground by wire and prevents static charge from building)
Coulomb’s Law
 From Coulomb’s experiments, we can generalize the
following properties of the electric force between two
stationary charged particles. The electric force
• is inversely proportional to the square of the
separation r between the particles and directed
along the line joining them;
• is proportional to the product of the charges q1
and q2 on the two particles;
• is attractive if the charges are of opposite sign
and repulsive if the charges have the same sign;
• is a conservative force
 The electric force F between these two q1 q2
charges separated by a distance r is F ke
given by Coulomb’s Law 2
r
 The constant ke is called Coulomb’s
constant
  is the permittivity of free
0

space 1  12 C
2
k where  0 8.85 10
4  0 Nm 2
 The smallest unit of charge e is
the charge on an electron (-e)
or a proton (+e) and has a
magnitude e = 1.6 x 10-19 C

 ke = constant = 8.99  109 Nm2/

C2
Coulomb Force Law,
Qualitatively
 Double one of the charges
 force doubles
 Change sign of one of the charges
 force changes direction
 Change sign of both charges
 force stays the same
 Double the distance between charges
 force four times weaker
 Double both charges
 force four times stronger
 Quick SAP
Q1: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.

Q2:Find the magnitude of the Coulomb force that exists between

an electron and a proton in a hydrogen atom. Compare the
Coulomb force and the gravitational force between the two
particles. The two particles are separated approximately by 1
Ångström 1Å 10-10 m.

Q3:Two charges, one of+5 x 10~7 and the other of —2 x 10~7 C,

attract each other with a force of 100 N. How far apart are they?
Q4: A test charge of+1 x 10~6 C is placed halfway between
a charge of+5 x 10~6 and a charge of +3 x 10~6 C that are
20 cm apart. Find the magnitude and direction of the force
on the test charge.
 When dealing with Coulomb’s law,
you must remember that force is a
vector quantity

 The law expressed in vector form for

the electric force exerted by a charge
q1 on a second charge q2, written
F12, is

 where rˆ is a unit vector directed from q1 toward q2

 The electric force exerted by q2 on q1 is

equal in magnitude to the force exerted
by q1 on q2 and in the opposite direction;
that is, F21= -F12.
Example: Find the Resultant Force

Consider three point

charges located at the
corners of a right
triangle, where q1=q3=
5.0μC, q2= 2.0 μC,
and a= 0.10 m. Find
the resultant force
exerted on q3.
 The Concept of a Field
A field is defined as a property of space in which a
material object experiences a force.

m. Above earth, we say there is a

gravitational field at P.
F
Because a mass m experiences a
downward force at that point.

No force, no field; No field, no force!

The direction of the field is determined by the force.

 The Electric Field
1. Now, consider point P a
distance r from +Q. F
P +.
+q E
2. An electric field E exists at P r
if a test charge +q has a force
F at that point. + +
+ +
+ Q
++
+
3. The direction of the E is the
same as the direction of a force Electric Field
on + (pos) charge.

4. The magnitude of E is given by FF NN

the formula: EE 
 ;; Units
Units
qq CC
 (a) What is the electric field a distance r from a charge q
(b) What is the electric field that acts on the electron in a
hydrogen atom, which is 5.3 x 10" n m from the proton that
is the atom's nucleus?

 The electric field in a certain neon sign is 5000 V/m. (a)

What force does this field exert on a neon ion of mass 3.3
x 10~26 kg and charge +e? (b) What is the acceleration of
the ion?
Electric field lines

• An electric field line is an imaginary line or curve

whose tangent at any point is the direction of the electric
field vector at that point.
 General rules for drawing
electric field lines:
 They begin at positive charges
and end on negative charges
 The number of lines drawn leaving
(ending on) a positive (negative)
charge is proportional to the
magnitude of the charge
 No two field lines can cross each
other

Electric Field Lines

 Two point charges of equal magnitude
but opposite sign form an electric dipole
 # lines that begin at positive charge =
# that terminate at negative charge
 Very near each charge, lines are nearly
radial
 Strong field between the charges

 Electric field lines near 2 equal positive

point charges
 An electric dipole is a pair
of point charges having
equal but opposite sign
and separated by a
distance.
 Figure at the right
illustrates the water
molecule, which forms an
electric dipole.
Knowing E at some point, we can calculate Fe on any
charge q0 at that same point from
 
Fe q0 E

Since we know the magnitude of Fe from Coulomb’s Law, the

magnitude of E is given by
Fe q q0 q
E  ke 2
ke 2
q0 q0 r r
21.2 Electric fields and electric
force
 With the electric field, the strength is in newtons per
coulomb (N/C).
 The electric field describes the amount of force per
coulomb of charge.
Electric Field of a Continuous
Charge Distribution
22.6 The Electric Field due to a Continuous Charge:
 Properties of Electric Charges
 Rubbing a rubber rod with wool transfers negative
charge to rod
 Wool has excess positive charge due to loss of negative
charge
 Rubbing a glass rod with silk transfers negative
charge to silk
 Glass rod has excess positive charge
 Experiments show that:
 Negatively charged rubber rod is attracted to positively
charged glass rod
 Negatively charged rubber rod is repelled by another
negatively charged rubber rod
 Opposite charges attract, like charges repel
 Quick SAP
Q1: If you rub an inflated balloon against your hair , the two
materials attract each other. Is the amount of charge present
in the system of the balloon and your hair after rubbing (a)
less than, (b) the same as, or (c) more than the amount of charge
present before rubbing?

Q2: Consider three point charges located at the corners of a right

triangle, where q1=q3= 5.0μC, q2= 2.0 μC, and a= 0.10 m. Find
the resultant force exerted on q3.
Q3: Three point charges lie along the x axis as
shown. The positive charge q1=15.0 C is at x =
2.00 m, the positive charge q2 = 6.0 C is at the
origin, and the resultant force acting on q3 is zero.
What is the x coordinate of q3?
Q4:

Three charges lie on the x axis: q1=+25 nC

at
the origin, q2= -12 nC at x = 2m, q3=+18
nC at
x=3 m. What is the net force on q1 and the
direction of the force?
r̂21 r̂31
x
1 2 3
Q5: A charge q1 is 7.0 C is located at the origin,
and a second charge q2 is 5.0 C is located on the
x axis, 0.30 m from the origin as shown. Find the
electric field at the point P, which has
coordinates (0, 0.40) m.
Q6: What is the net force on q1 and in what
direction?
q3= - 2 nC

+y

5 cm
2 cm

1 cm +x
q1= + 1 nC q2= + 1 nC
Hint : Find x and y components of force on q1 due to q2 and q3 and add them up.
Q7:

if q =+10 nC at the origin, q = +15 nC at x = 4 m. What is E at

1 2
y=3 m and x=0? point P
Q8:
An electron enters the region of a uniform electric field with
vi = 3.00 m/s and E = 200 N/C. The horizontal length of
the plates is l = 0.100 m.
(a) Find the acceleration of the electron while it is in the
electric field.
(b) Find the time it takes the electron to travel through the
field