PHYSICS REVIEWER
ELECTROSTATICS
positive charge
- deficit of electrons
negative charge
- excess of electrons
electrically neutral
- equal amounts of positive and negative charge
Law of Electric Charges
- Like charges repel and opposite charges attract
Law of Charge Conservation
- The total electric charge of an isolated system is conserved
Elementary Charge
- charge is quantized
- smallest possible positive charge is +1.602 x 10^-19
- smallest possible negative charge is -1.602 x 10^-19
Electric Charge
Mass - Amount of matter
Electric Charge
- Fundamental property of matter
- Describes “electricness” of particles
> 2 types (+), (-)
Properties
1. Charge comes in quantized units
> 1e, 2e, 3e
(cannot be fractional)
matter > Atom > Proton, Electron, Neutron > Quarks
● Quarks - Fractional but does not violate properties
2. Charge is conserved
- Amount of charge stays the same
Insulators and Conductors
1. Conductors
- materials that conduct electricity
- electrons can move freely
- electric charges move freely
- ex. metals, water with dissolved materials
2. Insulators
- materials that conduct electricity poorly
- electrons cannot move freely
- ex. glass, plastic, cloth, pure water
3. Semiconductors
- materials that can be switched between being an insulator and being a conductor
- types: intrinsic, extrinsic
4. Superconductors
- materials that have no resistance to the conduction of electricity
- materials are superconducting only at very low temperatures
- have zero electrical resistance
- can conduct electricity indefinitely without heat
Distilled water: insulator
Water with ions: conductor
Types of Charging
1. Charging by friction
- Transfer of charge when 2 insulating materials are rubbed
- Occurs when two different materials are rubbed together.
- Electrons transfer from one material to the other, causing one object to become
positively charged and the other negatively charged.
- Example: Rubbing a balloon on your hair transfers electrons, making the balloon
negatively charged and your hair positively charged.
-
2. Charging by contact
- Transfer of charge from one material to another by physical contact (only
electrons transfer)
3. Charging by induction
- used to charge a neutral object without touching it to any charged object
- Giving an object a net electric charge without touching the object to a second
charged object
Polarization - separation of protons and electrons
Grounding - conductor towards the ground
Coulomb’s Law
- The electrical force between two charged objects is directly proportional to the product of
the quantity of charge on the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the
separation between the two objects.
- \
Fe = (K|Q1Q2|)/r²
K = 8.99 x 10^9 Nm²/C²
attract + repulse
● The force between two charges is directed along the line connecting their centers
● Like all forces, electrostatic forces always occur in pairs according to Newton’s third
law (action and reaction)
● 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