Electric Charge and Force

SQ3R Chapter 16.1 (p. 530-536)

Name ___________KEY_______________
Period:

SCAN:
1) What are the 2 red headings within Chapter 16, Section 1?

Electric Charge & Electric Force

Terms:
2) What is electric charge? Electrical property of matter that creates electric and magnetic forces and
interactions
3) How do conductors and insulators differ? Conductors are materials in which charges can move freely
and that can carry an electric current. An insulator does not transfer current easily.
4) What is an electric force? The force of attraction or repulsion between objects due to charge
5) What is an electric field? A region in space around a charged object that causes a stationary charged
object to experience an electric force.
QUESTION:
Turn each of the blue sub-section headings into a question (how, what, why) and write them down
below.
6) 1st sub-section heading: How do like charges and unlike charges behave differently? Like charges
repel each other, unlike charges attract each other.
7) 2nd sub-section heading: What does an objects electric charge depend on? An objects charge depends
on the imbalance of its protons and electrons.
8) 3rd sub-section heading: How are conductors different from insulators? Conductors allow charges to
flow; insulators do not allow charges to flow.
9) 4th sub-section heading: How can objects become charged? Objects can become charged by a
transfer of electrons.
10) 5th sub-section heading: How do charges move within uncharged objects? Like charges within the
uncharged object are induced they move away from the charged object.
11) 6th sub-section heading: What does electric force depend on? Electric force depends on charge and
distance.
12) 7th sub-section heading: How does an electric force affect other objects? Electric force acts through a
field.
13) Briefly explain in your own words what Figure 4 on page 533 is showing? It shows the like negative
charges in the doorknob moving away from negative charges on the rubber rod.

READ: ELECTRIC CHARGE

You have probably been shocked from touching a doorknob after walking across a rug on a dry day. This
happens because your body picks up an electric charge as your shoes move across the carpet. Although
you may not notice these charges when they are spread throughout your body, you notice them as they
pass from your finger to the metal doorknob. You experience this movement of charges as a shock.
Go back to Question portion of the assignment and answer the question you wrote for this subsection.
All matter, including you, is made up of atoms. Atoms in turn are made up of even smaller building
blockselectrons, protons, and neutrons. Electrons are negatively charged, protons are positively
charged, and neutrons are neutral.
Whenever there is an imbalance in the number of protons and electrons in an atom, molecule, or other
object, it has a net electric charge. The difference in the numbers of protons and electrons determines an
objects electric charge. Negatively charged objects have more electrons than protons. Positively charged
objects have fewer electrons than protons.
The SI unit of electric charge is the coulomb, C.
Materials like the metal in cords are called conductors. Conductors allow electric charges to move
relatively freely. The plastic in the cord, however; does not allow electric charges to move freely.
Materials that do not transfer charge easily are called insulators. Cardboard, glass, silk, and plastic are
insulators.
Go back to Question portion of the assignment and answer the question you wrote for this subsection.
Protons and Neutrons are relatively fixed in the nucleus of the atom, but the outermost electrons can be
easily transferred from one atom to another.
Go back to Question portion of the assignment and answer the question you wrote for this subsection.
The charges in a neutral conductor can be redistributed without contacting a charged object. If you just
bring a negatively charged rubber rod close to the doorknob, the movable electrons in the door will be
repelled.
Go back to Question portion of the assignment and answer the question you wrote for this subsection.
READ: ELECTRIC FORCE
The attraction of tissue paper to a negatively charged comb and the repulsion of the two balloons are
examples of electric force.
The electric force is also responsible for effects that we cant see; it is part of what holds an atom
together. The bonding of atoms to form molecules is also due to the electric force. The electric force plays
a part in the interactions among molecules.
The electric force between two charged objects varies depending on the amount of charge on each object
and the distance between them. The electric force between two objects is proportional to the product of

the charges on the objects. If the charge on one object is doubled, the electric force between the objects
will also be doubled.
The electric force is also inversely proportional to the square of the distance between two objects. For
example, if the distance between two small charges is doubled, the electric force between them decreases
to one-fourth its original value. If the distance between two small charges is quadrupled, the electric force
between them decreases to one-sixteenth its original value.
Go back to Question portion of the assignment and answer the question you wrote for this subsection.
As described earlier, electric force does not require that objects touch. How do charges interact over a
distance? One way to model this property of charges is with the concept of an electric field. A charged
particle produces an electric field in the space around it. Another charged particle in that field will
experience an electric force. This force is due to the electric field associated with the first charged
particle.
One way to show an electric field is by drawing electric field lines. Regardless of the charge, electric field
lines never cross one another. Field lines show not only the direction of an electric field but also the
relative strength due to a given charge.
Go back to Question portion of the assignment and answer the question you wrote for this subsection.
RECITE:
Re-read the questions and answers you wrote down in the previous 2 sections of the assignment out loud
REVIEW: Answer the questions below without going back and looking anything up
14) Which pairs of charges will repel and which will attract? Like charges repel, unlike charges attract.
15) How does an object become charged? Objects become charged when electrons are transferred.
16) How does a charge move within an uncharged object? Charges within an uncharged object are
induced to move. The free like charges move to the other end of the object.
17) Explain how the electric force between two positive charges changes if
a) the distance between the charges is tripled. If the distance is tripled the electric force will be
reduced by 1/3.
b) the amount of one charge is doubled. If the amount of one charge is doubled, the electric force
will be doubled.
18) Determine the relative charge of each charge in the diagram to the right and
indicate which charge is greater.
Either both charges are negative or both charges are positive. The charge on
the left is greater than the one on the right