Chapter 14 HOW DO ELECTRIC CHARGES THAT ARE AT REST INTERACT? TERMS AND DEFINITIONS.

Electrostatics- is defined as the study of electricity at rest. It is the bodies that carry the electrons that are usually fixed. Protons- these are carriers of positive charges Neutrons- these are uncharged particles Electrons- these are carriers of negative charges. They are found orbiting around the outer part of the atom Atom- these are tiny particles that make up a molecule. These are made of particles with positive and negative charges. Molecules- these are the smallest particle in a chemical element or compound that has the chemical properties of that element or compound. Conductors- materials whose electric charges are free to move within. Insulators- it is where the electric charges are not free to move within. Semiconductors- a kind of material that is somewhere between insulators and conductors, such as silicon and germanium Conduction- is the transfer of electrons from a charged object to another object by direct contact. Induction- it is the movement of electrons to one part of an object by the electric field of another object. Polarization- the effect where the electric charges can shift slightly to one side when there is a charge nearby. Electric field- The region around a charged object or particle, where the electric force can be determined. LAWS/THEORIES/PRINCIPLES The Origin of Electricity. There are two kinds of electric charge: positive and negative. The SI unit of electric charge is the coulomb (C). The magnitude of the charge on an electron or a proton is e =1.60 x 1019 C. Since the symbol e denotes a magnitude, it has no algebraic sign. Thus, the electron carries a charge of -e, and the proton carries a charge of +e. The charge on any object, whether positive or negative, is quantized, in the sense that the charge consists of an integer number of protons or electrons. Charged Objects and the Electric Force. The law of conservation of electric charge states that the net electric charge of an isolated system remains constant during any process. Like charges repel and unlike charges attract each other. Again, Electric charges have the following important properties: Unlike charges attract one another, and like charges repel one another. Charge is conserved. Charge is quantizedthat is, it exists in discrete packets that are some integral multiple of the electronic charge. Conductors and Insulators An electrical conductor is a material, such as copper, that conducts electric charge readily. An electrical insulator is a material, such as rubber, that conducts electric charge poorly.

Charging by Contact and by Induction Charging by contact is the process of giving one object a net electric charge by placing it in contact with an object that is already charged. Charging by induction is the process of giving an object a net electric charge without touching it to a charged object. Conductors are materials in which charges move freely. Insulators are materials in which charges do not move freely. Coulombs Law. Coulombs law states that the electric force exerted by a charge q1 on a second charge q2 is

where r is the distance between the two charges. The constant k , called the Coulomb constant, has the value 9 x 10-9 Nm2/C2. The smallest unit of charge known to exist in nature is the charge of the particles in an atom, which is the electron and the proton both have a value of 1.6 x 10-19 C (but electron is negatively charged and proton is positively charged).

Figure 14.1 Each point charge exerts a force on the other. Regardless of whether the forces are (a) attractive or (b) repulsive, they are directed along the line between the charges and have equal magnitudes.

APPLICATIONS Simple Experiments. There are many experiments in our daily life which confirm the presence of electric charges and forces between them (either attractive or repulsive). Example, when we apply comb on our hair, the comb starts attracting pieces of paper. Attractive forces between comb and pieces of paper are even strong to suspend the paper. Electric forces also come into effect when glass or rubber is rubbed against the fur or silk. These devices are said to be electrified or electrically charged. The physics of xerography. The electrostatic force that charged particles exert on one another plays the central role in an office copier. The copying process is called xerography, from the Greek xeros and graphos, meaning dry writing. The heart of a copier is the xerographic drum, an aluminum cylinder coated with a layer of selenium. Aluminum is an excellent electrical conductor. Selenium, on the other hand, is a photoconductor: it is an insulator in the dark but becomes a conductor when exposed to light. Consequently, a positive charge deposited on the selenium surface will remain there, provided the

selenium is kept in the dark. When the drum is exposed to light, however, electrons from the aluminum pass through the conducting selenium and neutralize the positive charge. The photoconductive property of selenium is critical to the xerographic process. First, an electrode called a corotron gives the entire selenium surface a positive charge in the dark. Second, a series of lenses and mirrors focuses an image of a document onto the revolving drum. The dark and light areas of the document produce corresponding areas on the drum. The dark areas retain their positive charge, but the light areas become conducting and lose their positive charge, ending up neutralized. Thus, a positive-charge image of the document remains on the selenium surface. In the third step, a special dry black powder, called the toner, is given a negative charge and then spread onto the drum, where it adheres selectively to the positively charged areas. The fourth step involves transferring the toner onto a blank piece of paper. However, the attraction of the positive-charge image holds the toner to the drum. To transfer the toner, the paper is given a greater positive charge than that of the image, with the aid of another corotron. Last, the paper and adhering toner pass through heated

pressure rollers, which melt the toner into the fibers of the paper and produce the finished copy. Figure 14.2 (a) This cutaway view shows the essential elements of a copying machine. (b) The five steps in the xerographic process.

The physics of a laser printer. A laser printer is used with computers to provide high quality copies of text and graphics. It is similar in operation to the xerographic machine, except that the information to be reproduced is not on paper. Instead, the information is transferred from the computers memory to the printer, and laser light is used to copy it onto the selenium aluminum drum. A laser beam, focused to a fine point, is scanned rapidly from side to side across the rotating drum. While the light remains on, the positive charge on the drum is neutralized. As the laser beam moves, the computer turns the beam off at the right moments during each scan to produce the desired positive-charge image, which is the letter A in the picture.

Figure 14.3 As the laser beam scans back and forth across the surface of the xerographic drum, a positive-charge image of the letter A is created. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS 1. The charge on a glass rod that has been rubbed with silk is called positive: A. by arbitrary convention B. so that the proton charge will be positive C. to conform to the conventions adopted for G and m in Newtons law of gravitation D. because like charges repel E. because glass is an insulator 2. To make an uncharged object have a negative charge we must: A. add some atoms B. remove some atoms C. add some electrons D. remove some electrons E. write down a negative sign 3. To make an uncharged object have a positive charge: A. remove some neutrons B. add some neutrons C. add some electrons D. remove some electrons E. heat it to cause a change of phase 4. When a hard rubber rod is given a negative charge by rubbing it with wool: A. positive charges are transferred from rod to wool B. negative charges are transferred from rod to wool C. positive charges are transferred from wool to rod D. negative charges are transferred from wool to rod E. negative charges are created and stored on the rod

5. An electrical insulator is a material: A. containing no electrons B. through which electrons do not flow easily C. that has more electrons than protons on its surface D. cannot be a pure chemical element E. must be a crystal PROBLEMS. 1. Two charges, one of +5x10-7C and the other of -2x10-7 C, attract each other with a force of 100 N. How far apart are they? Given: Required: F = 100 N r=? q1= +5x10-7C q2 = -2x10-7 C Solution: From Coulombs law equationTo solve for r ( )( )( )

2. Two charges repel each other with a force of 9.3 x 10-4 N when they are 20 cm apart (a) What is the force on each when they are 4.5 cm apart? (b) when they are 86 cm apart? Given: Required: F1 = 9.3 x 10-4 N (a) F2 = ? r1 = 20 cm (b) F3 = ? (a) r2 = 4.5 cm (b) r3 = 86 cm Solution: From Coulombs law equation, we can see that the electric force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two charges. HenceTherefore(a) (b) ( ) ( ) ( ( )( ) )( )