AP Physics B

1
AP Physics B Notes Electrostatics

Table of Contents

1. Electric Charge
2. Electric Potential and Electric Charge
3. Parallel Plates
4. Storage of Charge - Capacitance
5. Electrostatics Links
6. References


Electric Charge:

Electric Charge is Conserved Objects are charged by the transfer of electrical charges,
electrical charges can neither be created or destroyed.
1. Fundamental Particles:
a) Electron
Mass: m
p
= 9.11 x 10
-31
kg
Charge: -1 e (e = elementary charge)
b) Proton
Mass: m
p
= 1.67 x 10
-27
kg
Charge: +1 e
c) Neutron
Mass: m
n
= 1.67 x 10
-27
kg
Charge: 0 e
d) The SI unit of charge is the Coulomb (C).
1 C = 6.25 x 10
18
e
e = 1.60 x 10
-19
C
2. Charge is transferred by the movement of electrons.

Example 1: What is the total charge of all the electrons in 1.0 kg of H
2
O?









Insulators, Semiconductors and Conductors
1. Insulators No free electrons
a) Ex. Glass, rubber, plastic and dry wood.
2. Conductors Has free electrons.
a) Ex. Metals; silver, copper, gold, mercury
3. Semiconductors Have few free electrons at ordinary temperatures as
temperature rises, electrons break free and move through the material. Ability
of semiconductors to conduct improves with temperature.
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Charging There are three modes of electrifying an object: friction, conduction and
induction. A positive charge means that the object has lost electrons and is no longer
electrically neutral. Each electron lost gives the particle a charge of +1.6 x 10
-19

coulombs. A negative charge means that the object has gained electrons. Each
electron gains gives the particle a charge of -1.6 x 10
-19
coulombs.
1. Friction Electrification by friction
occurs when two surfaces are rubbed together.
One gains electrons while the other loses them.
When any two substances shown in this list are
rubbed together, the top one will become
positively charged while the lower one will
become negatively charged. The further apart the
two substances are in the list, the greater the
electrification.







2. Conduction Charging by conduction means that the charging rod actually
touches the electroscopes knob. Since there is contact, electrons from the
knob would flow onto a positive rod or off of a negative rod. Charging by
conduction leaves the electroscope with a residual charge IDENTICAL to that
of the charging rod.


3. Induction - Charging by induction means that the charging rod is brought
close to the electroscopes knob but NEVER touches it. If the electroscope is
not grounded, it will remain neutral but be temporarily polarized while the
charging rod is in the immediate vicinity. That is, a positive rod will induce
the electrons in the scope to migrate to the knob. This redistribution of charge
will result in the leaves of the scope being positively charged.















-
Asbestos
Fur (rabbit)
Glass
Mica
Wool
Quartz
Fur (cat)
Lead
Silk
Human skin, Aluminum
Cotton
Wood
Amber
Copper, Brass
Rubber
Sulfur
Celluloid
India rubber
+
-
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If the electroscope is grounded during induction, electrons will flow from the
knob to the ground if the charging rod is NEGATIVE and electrons will flow onto
the knob if the charging rod is POSITIVE. The net effect once the grounding wire
is removed is that the electroscope will be left with a residual charge that is
OPPOSITE to that of the charging rod.

Coulomb's Law Two point charges exert a force (F) on one another that is directly
proportional to the product of the magnitudes of the charges (q) and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance (r) between their centers.
1.
2
2 1
4
1
r
q q
F
o

2
2 1
r
q q
k F

a) k = 1/
o
4 = 9.0x10
9
Nm
2
/C
2
, Coulombs Law constant
b)
o
= 8.85x10
-12
C
2
/Nm
2
, Vacuum permittivity
c) Gravitational vs. electrostatic forces:

Example 2: What is the magnitude of the force a + 12 C charge exerts on a + 3.0
mC charge 40 cm away?




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Example 3: A charge of 5.0 mC is placed at each corner of a square 1.0 m on a side.
Determine the magnitude and direction of the force on each particle.






















Electric Field If an electric charge experiences an electric force at a particular point in
space, it is in the presence of an electric field.
1.
q
F
E
a) Units: Newtons/Coulomb (N/C)
b) Electric field is a vector, the direction of the vector is in the same direction
as the direction of the force vector on a positive test charge.
c) In order to visualize the path taken by a charged particle placed in an
electric field, electric field lines or lines of force are drawn.




d) The electric field inside a charged particle is zero.
e) The electric field created by a charge (q) at a distance (r) can be found by
combining two known electrostatics equations:

2
2 1
r
q q
k F and
q
F
E






+
+ +
-
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Example 4: What is the magnitude and direction of the electric field at a point
midway between a -8.0 C and a +6.0 C charge 4.0 cm apart?












Example 5: Calculate the electric field at one corner of a squre 1.00 m on a side if the
other three corners are occupied by 2.80 x 10
-6
C charges.















Electric Potential and Electric Charge:

Electric Potential Potential energy per unit of charge
1. Symbol V - defined specifically as a point charge q has electric potential
energy U
E
at some point r, then
q
E
V
E
- or -

r
q q
qV U
o
E
2 1
4
1


2. Measured in units of Volts

Difference in Potential Difference in potential between two points a and b.
1. Also called Potential Difference
2. Most often called voltage.
3. For a point charge the absolute potential of any position in its electric field is
calculated using the equation

i i
i
o
r
q
V
4
1
(a little calculus to derive)
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When the charge creating the field is positive, the voltage is positive; when
the central charge is negative, the voltage is negative. As r grows larger and
larger, that is, as r approaches infinity, the absolute potential is defined to be
zero.
For a point charge,
V = k Q / r
For a point charge,
E = k Q / r




Notice that the electric field strength ( E 1 / r ) drops off more rapidly
than does the voltage ( V 1 / r ) .


Parallel Plates:



Parallel Plates
1. The work done in moving charge q from point b to point a is defined as
W = qV
ba

2. W = Fr W = qEd V
ba
= Ed E = V
ba
/ d
3. As shown in the table of equations:
r
q q
qV U
o
E
2 1
4
1

- and

d
V
E
avg




4. The electron-Volt (eV) - A unit of energy. Typically used when studying
energies at the atomic and nuclear levels
d
b
a
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a) Defined as the energy acquired by an electron as a result of moving
through a potential difference of 1 Volt. ( W = qV)
b) 1 eV = 1.6 X 10
-19
J

Example 6: What is the speed of a 750 eV electron?






Example 7: What is the electric potential a distance of 2.5 x 10
-15
m away from a
proton? What is the electric potential energy of a system that consists of two
protons2.5 x 10
-15
m apart as might occur inside a typical nucleus?











Storage of Charge Capacitance:

Capacitor
1. Stores electric charge on two parallel plates of area A
separated by a distance d. Frequently rolled up into a cylinder
2. When connected to a voltage, each plate acquires a charge Q, one
positive, and the other negative
3. Charge is proportional to voltage: Q = CV
V
Q
C
where the units of capacitance is Coulombs / Volts or the Farad (F)
4. For parallel plates of area A and distance of separation d,
d
A
C
o


Dielectrics Insulating sheets between the parallel plates of the capacitor.
1. If the material polarizes when placed between the plates, then the capacitance
increased by a factor of k, the dielectric constant.

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Storage of Electric Energy
1. The energy stored in a capacitor is equal to the work done to charge it. Since
the voltage increases as a capacitor is charged, you need to figure in the
average voltage in your calculation (1/2V)
2
2
1
2
1
CV QV U

Example 8: If a capacitor has 3.5 C of charge on it and an electric field of 2.0
kV/mm is desired if they are separated by 5.0 mm of air, what must each plates
area be?









Example 9: A parallel plate capacitor has fixed charges +Q and Q. The separation
of the plates is then doubled. By what factor does the energy stored in the electric
field change?












Electrostatics Links:

Animations:
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/estatics/estaticTOC.html
Reviews:
http://regentsprep.org/Regents/physics/phys-
topic.cfm?Course=PHYS&TopicCode=03a


References:

http://online.cctt.org/physicslab/content/PhyAPB/review/summaries/Elecstatics.asp
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/elefie.html