Electric charge

 Symbol q
 It’s known since ancient time that
if amber is rubbed on cloth, it can
attract light objects, i.e. feather.
 This phenomenon is due to a
property of matter called “electric
charge”.
Type of electric charge
 There are two types of electric
charge : Positive and Negative
 The terms “positive” and “negative”
are given by Benjamin Flanklin
 Rubbing glass with silk cloth : the
sign of electric charges on glass is
defined as “positive”.
 Rubbing plastic with fur cloth : sign
of electric charges on plastic is
defined as “negative”.
Force among two electric charges
 Experiments on charged objects
show that
 Charged objects with same sign
repel each other
 Charged objects with different
sign attract each other
 Atom
 In 18th century, it was assumed that
electric charge is some type of
weightless continuous fluid.
 Later on 20th century, Ernest
Rutherford investigated structure
of atom and revealed its
constituents.

 Atom consists of electron and nuclei (proton and neutron).

 Electron (e) is negatively charged.
 Proton (p) is positively charged.
 Neutron (n) is neutral (zero charge).
Charge quantization
 The electric charge , q, is quantized : it exists as a discrete packets. (i.e.
q=Ne)
 The unit of charge is Coulomb (C).

 Neutron (n) : Mass m = 1.67510-27 kg ; Charge

q=0
 Proton (p) : Mass m = 1.67310-27 kg ; Charge q
= +1.60210-19 C
 Electron (e) : Mass m = 9.1110-31 kg ; Charge q
= -1.60210-19 C
 Note : We use the symbol “-e” and “+e” for the electron and proton
charge, respectively. This is known as the elementary charge
Example of charge quantization
 The net charge, Qnet , of any object is quantized
(integral number of elementary charge)
Qnet of an object that contains Ne electrons , N p protons ,
and Nn neutrons is given by:

Qnet  eN e  eN p  0 N n  e  N p  N e   ne

Np
Ne
Nn
Conservation of charge
 Electric charge is always conserved silk
in an isolated system
 For example, charge is not created
in the process of rubbing two
objects together, it is just a transfer glass rod
of charge.

Net charge before = Net charge after silk

+
+
Qi  Q f - - +
- - +

glass rod
Charging a conductor by induction
 Can be done as follow: Fig.a
 Bring charged object close to a
conductor.
 Charged object will either repel
or attract electrons of a
conductor to the opposite end.
 Connect a ground wire to the
opposite end of a conductor Fig.b Connection
to ground
causing electrons to go to
ground(earth). -
 Disconnect ground wire. -
-
Coulomb’s Law
 Charles Coulomb measured the
magnitudes of electric forces
between two small charged
spheres
 He found the force depended on
the charges and the distance
between them
Coulomb’s Law
 Consider two point charges q1
and q2 placed at distance r
apart.
 The two charges exert force on
each other along the line
between them.
 The force is repulsion if the
two charges are the same sign,
the force is attraction if the
two charges are the opposite
sign.
 Coulomb’s Law
Coulomb found that the electric force between
two charged objects is
Proportional to the product of the charges on
the objects, and
Inversely proportional to the separation of the
objects squared
q1q2
F k 2
r
k being a proportionality constant, having a value
of 8.988 x 109 Nm2/c2
Physics 231 Lecture 1-12 Fall 2008
 Electric Force
As with all forces, the electric force is a Vector
So we rewrite Coulomb’s Law as
 q1q2
F12  k 2 r̂12
r
This gives the force on charged object 2 due to charged
object 1 q1 q2

r̂12 is a unit vector pointing from object 1 to object 2

The direction of the force is either parallel or
antiparallel to this unit vector depending upon the
relative signs of the charges
Physics 231 Lecture 1-13 Fall 2008
 Electric forces
 Electric forces are created between all electric charges.
 Because there are two kinds of charge (positive and negative)
the electrical force between charges can attract or repel.
 Electric forces
 The forces between the two kinds of charge can be
observed with an electroscope.
Electric forces
 Charge can be transferred by conduction.
 Electric Force
The force acting on each charged object has the
same magnitude - but acting in opposite directions

 
F12  F21 (Newton’s Third Law)

Physics 231 Lecture 1-17 Fall 2008

 Example 1
A charged ball Q1 is fixed to a horizontal surface
as shown. When another massive charged Q2
ball Q2 is brought near, it achieves an Q2
equilibrium position at a distance d12 directly
above Q1. d12 d23
When Q1 is replaced by a different charged ball g
Q3, Q2 achieves an equilibrium position at a Q1 Q3
distance d23 (< d12) directly above Q3.

For 1a and 1b which is the correct answer

1a: A) The charge of Q3 has the same sign of the charge of Q1
B) The charge of Q3 has the opposite sign as the charge of Q1
C) Cannot determine the relative signs of the charges of Q3 & Q1
1b: A) The magnitude of charge Q3 < the magnitude of charge Q1
B) The magnitude of charge Q3 > the magnitude of charge Q1
C) Cannot determine relative magnitudes of charges of Q3 & Q1
Physics 231 Lecture 1-18 Fall 2008
 Example 1
A charged ball Q1 is fixed to a horizontal surface
Q2
as shown. When another massive charged
ball Q2 is brought near, it achieves an Q2
equilibrium position at a distance d12 directly
above Q1. d12 d23
g
When Q1 is replaced by a different charged ball
Q1 Q3
Q3, Q2 achieves an equilibrium position at a
distance d23 (< d12) directly above Q3.

1a: A) The charge of Q3 has the same sign of the charge of Q1

B) The charge of Q3 has the opposite sign as the charge of Q1
C) Cannot determine the relative signs of the charges of Q3 & Q1

• To be in equilibrium, the total force on Q2 must be zero.

• The only other known force acting on Q2 is its weight.
• Therefore, in both cases, the electrical force on Q2 must be directed upward
to cancel its weight.
• Therefore, the sign of Q3 must be the SAME as the sign of Q1
Physics 231 Lecture 1-19 Fall 2008
 Example 1
A charged ball Q1 is fixed to a horizontal surface Q2
as shown. When another massive charged ball
Q2 is brought near, it achieves an equilibrium Q2
position at a distance d12 directly above Q1.
d12 d23
When Q1 is replaced by a different charged ball g
Q3, Q2 achieves an equilibrium position at a Q1 Q3
distance d23 (< d12) directly above Q3.

1b: A) The magnitude of charge Q3 < the magnitude of charge Q1

B) The magnitude of charge Q3 > the magnitude of charge Q1
C) Cannot determine relative magnitudes of charges of Q3 & Q1

• The electrical force on Q2 must be the same in both cases … it just cancels
the weight of Q2
• Since d23 < d12 , the charge of Q3 must be SMALLER than the charge of Q1
so that the total electrical force can be the same!!

Physics 231 Lecture 1-20 Fall 2008

 More Than Two Charges
Given charges q, q1, and q2
If q1 were the only other charge,  q1
Fq
we would know the force on q 1q
 
due to q1 - Fq q
1 q Fnet
If q2 were the only other charge, 
Fq
we would know the force on q 2q q2

due to q2 - Fq q
2

What is the net force if both charges are present?

The net force is given by the Superposition Principle

  
Fnet  F1 F 2

Physics 231 Lecture 1-21 Fall 2008

 Superposition of Forces
If there are more than two charged objects
interacting with each other
The net force on any one of the charged
objects is
The vector sum of the individual Coulomb
forces on that charged object
 qi
Fj  q j  k 2 rˆij
i  j rij
Physics 231 Lecture 1-22 Fall 2008
 Example Two
y (cm)
qo, q1, and q2 are all point charges
4
where qo = -1mC, q1 = 3mC, and
3 qo
q2 = 4mC
2
What is the force acting on qo? 1
q1  q2
  
We have that F0  F10  F20 1 2 3 4 5 x (cm)

  What are F0x and F0y ?

Need to calculate F10 and F20 
Decompose F20 into its x and y
q0 q1  components
F10  k F10   F10 yˆ
r102 
F20  F20 cos   xˆ  F20 sin   yˆ
q0 q 2 
F20  k F20   F20 rˆ x 2  x0 y0  y 2
2 20 cos   sin  
r20 r20 r20

Physics 231 Lecture 1-23 Fall 2008

 Example Two - Continued
 
Now add the components of F10 and F20 to find F0 x and F0 y

X-direction: F0 x  F10 x  F20 x y (cm)

F10 x  0 4
3 qo 
F0 x  F20 cos  2
F20

F10 
1 F0
q1 q2
Y-direction: F  F  F
0y 10 y 20 y
1 2 3 4 5 x (cm)
F0 y   F10  F20 sin 

Physics 231 Lecture 1-24 Fall 2008

 Example Two - Continued
Putting in the numbers . . . y (cm)
4
cos   0 .8 3 qo 
F20
r10  3cm r20  5cm 2 
F10 
1 F0
F10  30 N F20  14.4 N q1 q2
1 2 3 4 5 x (cm)
We then get for the components
F0 x  11.52 N F0 y  38.64 N

The magnitude of F0 is F0  F02x  F02y  40.32 N

At an angle given by
  tan 1 F0 y F0 x   tan 1 (38.64 / 11.52)  73.40
Physics 231 Lecture 1-25 Fall 2008
 Note on constants
k is in reality defined in terms of a more
fundamental constant, known as the
permittivity of free space.

1
k
4 0
2
12 C
with  0  8.854 x10 2
Nm
Physics 231 Lecture 1-26 Fall 2008