ELECTRO STATICS

ELECTRIC CHARGES
Introduction
1. Electrostatics is the branch of physics, which deals with the charges at rest.
2. Charges are understood as a basic property of matter due to which it repels
charges of its own kind and attracts charges of the opposite kind.
3. Charge is a scalar. The dimension of charge is A1T1 .
4. The Process of developing electric charges on a body is called electrification.
5. The body, which acquires electric charges is said to be electrified.
6. The electrically charged bodies have a property to attract light objects like
dust particles, small pieces of paper etc.
7. There are two types of charge namely positive charges and negative charges.
8. Like charges repel and unlike charges attract.
9. Charge is conserved. This means charge can neither be created nor be
destroyed. (Law of conservation of charge).
10. Charge remains unaffected by motion.
11. Charge is quantized. The lowest charge is the change on an electron (e) .
The numerical value of the electron charge is 1.6 1019 coulomb.
12. Charge can exist only as e, 2e, 3e........ ne .
13. Charges are understood by the properties they exhibit and their behavior.
14. Matter is made up of atoms and atoms consists of protons ( +ve charge) and
electrons ( ve charge). When electrons are removed from an electrically
neutral body, the body is said to acquire a +ve charge. When electrons are
added to an electrically neutral body, the body is said to acquire a ve charge.
15. Materials that allow charges to pass through them are called conductors.
16. The materials that do not allow the charges to pass through them are called
insulators.
17. Charge may not exist without mass.
18. A body is said to be neutral if the sum of the charges on the body is zero.

Methods of charging a body

Charging by friction: When two bodies are rubbed against one another, one of
them loses electrons to the other and other gains electrons. Thus the two bodies
acquire opposite type of charges. Such a process is called electrification by
friction.
When a glass is rubbed with silk, the glass rod is said to acquire a positive
charge and the silk to acquire a negative charge.

Charging by conduction:
When a body X which is already charged is brought into contact with an
unchanged conductor Y gets charged by conduction.
If X is positively charged, Y looses electrons to X and hence Y
acquires a +ve charge. If X is negatively charged, Y gains electrons from
X and hence acquires a ve charge.

Charging by Induction:
When a positively charged body X is brought near a neutral conductor
Y, then negative charges will appear on the face of Y closer to X and
positive charges will appear on the farther face of Y. In this process there is
only a redistribution of charges present in Y and there is no net gain or loss of
charge to Y. If the farther face of Y, is earthed, the positive charges will be
removed from Y and hence Y gets a negative charge.

Charging by other methods

A suitable material can be made to eject electrons by irradiating it with a
suitable radiation (photoelectric effect). This results in the charging of the body.
A suitable material can be charged by pulling out the electrons from it by
applying a suitably strong electric field.
Note: Whenever charges are given to a conductor, the charges distribute on the
entire surface of the conductor. When charges are given to an insulator, the
charges remain at the same place wherever they are given.
The charges given to a body always reside at the outermost surface.

Coulombs Law
Statement: The force of attraction or repulsion between any two point charges is
directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to
the square of the distance between them.

If q1 and q 2 are two point charges separated by a distance r in free space (

or vacuum),
qq
qq
F q1q 2 and F 1/ r 2 F 1 2 2 or F K 1 2 2
r
r
2

Where K is a constant of proportionality. In S.I. units K

1
. Thus in S.I.
4

units, the coulombs law is mathematically written as

1 q1q 2
, where is called the permittivity of free space.
F
4 r 2
In the vector form, w F

1 q1q 2
r here r is the unit vector.
4 r 2

8.854 10 12 farad per metre(F/m).

1
8.988 109 9 109 Nm2C2
4

For any other medium, the permittivity is given by r , where r is

called the relative permittivity or the dielectric constant of the medium r 1 for
air. r has no unit.
1 q1q 2
The Coulombs law in a medium other than free space is F
.
4 r r 2
Unit charge is that charge which when placed at a distance of 1 metre from
an identical charge in free space repels the other by a force equal to 9 109
newton.
The S.I. unit of charge is coulomb(unit charge).
1 coulomb is defined as the electric charge that flows through a section of
a conductor in 1second, when the current through the conductor is 1 ampere.
Note:
1. The Coulombs law gives the force between two charges. If a charge q1
repels another charge q 2 with a certain force, then q 2 also repels q1
with the same force.
2. The electrostatic force or the Coulombian force acts along the line
joining the two charges.
3. Coulombs law is applicable for point charges. A point charge is a
certain quantity of charge assumed to be situated at a geometric point.
4. The charge on an electron is 1.6 1019 coulomb. The number of
electrons that would have a total charge of
1
6.25 1018 electrons.
1 coulomb =
19
1.6 10
Removal of 6.25 1018 electrons from a conductor makes the conductor
positively charged to +1 coulomb. Similarly the addition of 6.25 1018
electrons to a conductor makes it negatively charged to 1 coulomb.
3

5. In any medium the coulombian force is given by

1 q1q 2 1 1 q1q 2
Fmed

4 r r 2
r 4 r 2
1
F
Fmed Ffs r fs
r
Fmed
Relative permittivity of any medium is defined as the ratio of the
force between two point charges in free space to the force between them in
that medium.
Since r is always greater than one for all dielectrics (insulators), the
force in a dielectric will always be less than the force in free space.