Electric Charge

Coulomb’s Law
 Electric Charge
 All ordinary matter contains
both positive and negative
charge.
 You do not usually notice
the charge because most
matter contains the exact
same number of positive
and negative charges.
 An object is electrically
neutral when it has equal
amounts of both types of
charge.
 Electric Charge

• Electric charge is a
property of tiny particles in
atoms.
• The unit of electric charge
is the coulomb (C).
• A quantity of charge should
always be identified with a
positive or a negative sign.
 Electric forces
• Electric forces are created between all electric charges.
• There are two kinds of charge (positive and negative) the
electrical force between charges can attract or repel.
Electric Forces

Like Charges - Repel

F F
+ +

Unlike Charges - Attract

F F +
-
 Conductors and Insulators

• All materials contain electrons.

• The electrons are what carry the
current in a conductor.
• The electrons in insulators are not
free to move—they are tightly
bound inside atoms.
 Coulomb's Law
- Charles Augustin de Coulomb

• Coulomb’s law relates the force between two single

charges separated by a distance.

Constant
9 x109 N.m2/C2

Force
(N) F = K q1 q2 Charges (C)

r2
Distance (m)
 Coulomb's Law

• The force between two

charges gets stronger as the
charges move closer
together.

• The force also gets stronger if

the amount of charge
becomes larger.
 Calculating force

• Two balls are each given a static electric charge of

(0.0001) of a coulomb.
• Calculate the force between the charges when they
are separated by (0.1) of a meter.
• 1) You are asked to calculate the force and compare it to a person’s
weight.
• 2) You are given the charges and separation, and the mass of the
person.
• 3) Use Coulomb’s law, F= -Kq1q2/d2, for the electric force and F=mg
for the weight.

• 4) Solve:
• F = (9×109 N•m2/C2)(0.0001C)(.0001C) ÷ (0.1 m)2 =
9,000 N
Two point charges are 5.0 m apart. If the charges are 0.020 C and
0.030 C, what is the force between them and is it attractive or
repulsive?

F
1 q1q2
 8.99 x 109 Nm

  
2  0.020 C 0.030 C 

2  
4 0 r 2 C   5.0 m  2


F  0.000216 x 10 N 9
 2.2 x 10 N 5

The force is repulsive - both charges are positive.

Calculate the force of attraction between the lone electron
and proton in a hydrogen atom. The average distance
between them is 5.0x10-11m.
A metal sphere is given a charge of -3.0x10-6C and a
second sphere of +2.0x10-6C. The spheres are
separated by a distance of 0.010m. What is the force
between them?
Determine the force an electron of a H atom
exerts on a single proton. Assume the
electron “orbits” the proton at an average
distance of 0.53 x 10-10 m.