ELECTRIC CHARGES

AND FIELDS

CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION
CONDUCTORS AND INULATOR
PROPERTIES OF CHARGE
INTERACTION
COLOUMBS LAW
FORCE DUE TO MULTIPLE CHARGE
DIELECTRIC CONSTANT
ELECTRIC FIELD
PROPERTIES OF ELECTRIC FIELD
LINES
ELECTRIC DIPOLE
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
GAUSSS LAW
APPLICATION OF GAUSSS LAW

 Electric and magnetic forces

determine the properties of
atoms, molecules and bulk
matter.
ELECTROSTATICS deals with the
study of forces, fields and potentials
arising from static charges.

 All materials contain

electrons.
The electrons are what carry
the current in a conductor.
The electrons in insulators are
not free to movethey are
tightly bound inside atoms.

BASIC PROPERTIES OF ELECTRIC

CHARGE:
1/ADDITIVITY OF CHARGES
2/CHARGE IS CONSERVED
3/QUANTISATION OF CHARGE

 All free charge are integral multiples of a

basic unit of charge denoted by e. Thus
charge q on a body is always given by
Q=ne

ADDITIVITY OF CHARGE
Total charge on a body is the algebraic sum
of all the charges distributed over the body.
This is because, it is essentially a scalar
quantity.

CHARGING A METAL SPHERE BY INDUCTION

Charges are free to move in a conductor but are tightly bound in an insulator.
The earth (ground) is a large conductor having many free charges.

Charge can neither be created nor be

destroyed.
example:
When a silk is rubbed with glass, glass
acquires positive charges equal in
magnitude to the negative charges
acquired by silk.

COULOMBS LAW
It is a quantitative statement
about the force between two
point charges.
It measured the force between
two point charges and found
that it varied inversely as the
square of the distance between
the charges and was directly
proportional to the product of
the magnitude of the two
charges and acted along the
line joining the two charges.
F=K|q1 q2|/r^2

SUPERPOSITION PRINCIPLE
THE PRINCIPLE IS BASED ON THE
PROPERTY
THAT THE FORCES WITH WHICH TWO
CHARGEATTRACT OR REPEL EACH
OTHER
ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THE PRESENCE
OF A THIRD(ORMORE) ADDITIONAL
CHARGE(S).

 EXPERIMENTALLY:
It is verified that force on any charge due
to a number of other charges is the vector
addition of all the forces on that charge
due to the other charges , taken one at a
time. The individual forces are unaffected
due to the presence of other charges.
F1=Kq1q2/r^2*r12
F2=Kq1q2/r^2*r13 i.e;
F=F1+F2=Kq1q2/r^2+Kq1q2/r^2

=K[ q1q2/r^2 + q1q2/r^2+. . . . .

+q1q2/r^n]

 Dielectric constant of a medium is

defined as the ratio of the force of
interaction between two charges
separated by a distance in free space to
the force between the same charges
separated by the same distance in the
medium. The value of K varies from one
medium to another, viz K=1 from free
space; for air, force between the
charges in water.

 ELECTRIC FIELD INTENSITY:

The electric field due to a point

charge Q at a point in space may
be defined as the force that a unit
positive charge would experience if
placed at that point.
ELECTRIC FIELD LINES:
An electric field lines is the path
through which a unit positive
charge would move, if free to do
so. The tangent drawn at that point
on this path gives the direction of
electric field at that point.

 On the Earths surface, the gravitational field creates

9.8 N of force on each kilogram of mass.
With gravity, the strength of the field is in newtons per
kilogram (N/kg) because the field describes the amount
of force per kilogram of mass.

 The electric field lines do not

intersect each other.
The field lines originate from
positive charge and end at
negative charge.
The line of force do not form
any closed loops.
The field lines form
continuous curves without any
make or break.
They originate and terminate
at right angles to the surface.

ELECTRIC FIELD LINES

E is stronger near the
charge,
so the density of field lines
is not near the charge and
the lines are closer.
Away from the charge, the
field gets weaker and the
density if field is less,
resulting in well separating
lines.
.

Summer July 2004

18

Electric field due to a line of uniform + charge of length L

with linear charge density equal to
y

dE

dE = k dq /r2
dEy

dEx
-x

dEy= dE cos

d
q

dEy= k dx cos
r2
L /2

E y k L / 2cosdx /r 2

E y k / y

cos d

dE

L / 2

-L/2

Ex

L /2

L/
2

+x

dq = dx

Ey= k q cos r2 for a point char

dx/r =
d/y
2

2k
Ey
sin 0
y

x= y tan

dx = y sec2

r =y sec rysec2

sin 0
19

L /2
y 2 L2 /4

ELECTRIC DIPOLE: An electric dipole is a pair of equal and

opposite charges q and q separated by a
distance 2a.
The total charge of the electric dipole is zero.
Field of an electric dipole ,
Far point on the axis:
E= -q/40(r+a)^2
E= +q/40(ra)^2
E=4qa/40r^3 (r>>>a)

Electric Dipoles: A pair of equal and opposite charges q

separated by a displacement d is called an electric dipole. It
has an electric dipole moment p=qd.
IEI ~ 2kqd/r3 when r is large
p=qd = the
dipole moment
compared
toelectric
d
P

++
d qp
- q

r
IEI ~2kp/r3 Note inverse
cube law
IEI = kq/r2 Note inverse square law
for a single charge.
21

The electric field on the axis of a uniformly charged

ring with linear charge density Q/2R

Ez

dE cos

k cos
Ez
r2

ds

dq
ds
dE k 2 k 2
r
r
2

ds Rd R d 2R

k cos
Ez
2R
2
r

dq = ds

kQz
Ez 2
(z R 2 ) 3 / 2

Summer July 2004

s R

r2 =z2+R2
cos z/r

=0 at z=0
=0 at z=infinity
=max
at z=0.7R
22

 E= -2qa/4
Dipole in a
uniform
external field:
Magnitude of
torque
q E *2a sin
= 2qaE sin
torque=p*E
sin
0

H2O in a Uniform Electric

Field
There exist a torque on the water molecule
To rotate it so that p lines up with E.
x

Torque about the com = t

F x sin q + F(d-x)sin q = F d sin q =
qEdsin q = pEsin q = p x E
t=pxE
Potential Energy = U = -W = -pEcosq = - p. E
Is a minimum when p aligns with E

ELECTRIC FLUX
The electric flux through a surface
held inside an electric field
represent the total number of
electric lines of force crossing the
surface perpendicular to the
surface. It is a scalar quantity
represented by
and = E . dS

 Surface integral of the electric field

over the closed surface is directly
proportional to the total charge
present inside.
Mathematically:= E . dS= q/.

APPLICATION:Electric field lines due to line

of charge.
Electric field due to an
infinite plane sheet of
charge.
Electric field due to two
infinite plane parallel sheets
of charge.

Electric Field Lines

Like charges (++)
-)

Opposite charges (+

This is called an electric dipole.

28

The flux through a plane surface of area A due to a uniform field E

is a simple product:

= E A where E is normal to the area A .

n

= En A = 0 x A = 0 because the normal component of E is 0

r

q
n

= En A =E cos q A

r
E

r
E

FIELD DUE TO A PLANE SHEET OF

CHARGE:-

E is directed away from the plate if

is positive and towards the plate if
negative.
The charge enclosed by the closed
surface is A.

ELECTRIC FIELD DUE TO

GAUSS'S SURFACE:

Flux through the two ends of the cylindrical

gaussian surface is zero.

At the cylindrical part of the surface E is

normal to the surface at every point, and its
magnitude is constant.

The surface area of the curved

part is 2rl.

 THANK YOU.