Force
• A force is a push or pull upon an object resulting from the
object's interaction with another object.
• Whenever there is an interaction between two
objects, there is a force upon each of the objects
Forces
By the early 19th century, physicists had
classified the apparent myriad of forces in
nature to just 3 kinds:
Gravitational force
Electric force
Magnetic force
Forces
By the end of the 19th century, they had
narrowed the list to just 2 forces:
Gravitational force
Electromagnetic force
Forces
The 20th century first added two new forces to
this list that are observed only inside the atomic
nucleus:
Gravitational force
Electromagnetic force
Weak force
Strong force
Forces
And then found theoretical links that narrowed
the list back to 2 kinds of forces:
Gravitational force
Strong/Electroweak force
The Electric Force
We will turn our attention to the electric
force, which is a force between objects
with charge, just as the gravitational
force is a force between objects with
mass.
Electrostatics
Electrostatics is the study of electric charge at
rest.
(Or more or less at rest, in contrast with
current electricity.)
Electrical Charges
Electric charge is a fundamental property of
matter.
Two types of electric charges
Positive charge - every proton has a single
positive charge.
Negative charge - every electron has a
single negative charge.
Electrical Charge
An object with an excess of electrons is
negatively charged.
An object with too few electrons (too many
protons) is positively charged.
An object with the same number of electrons
and protons is neutral.
Electrical Forces
Like
charges repel.
Opposite charges attract.
Elementary Charges
Protons carry the smallest positive
charge.
Protons and uncharged neutrons
generally reside in an atom’s nucleus.
Protons are held in the nucleus by the
strong force.
Mass of proton is 1.6726219 × 10-27
kilograms
Elementary Charges
The smallest negative charge is the
charge on the electron.
In normal atoms, electrons orbit the
nucleus.
The electric force between electrons
and protons supplies the centripetal
force to keep electrons in the atom.
Mass of electron is 9.10938356 × 10-31
kilograms
Elementary Charges
The
charges carried by the proton
and electron are equal in size.
Neutron does not carry any
charge.
Units of Charge
The SI unit of charge is the Coulomb.
1 Coulomb = the charge of 6.24 x 1018
electrons
e = 1.602 x 10-19 C
Charge is Conserved
Electric charge is conserved -
Electric charge moves from one place to
another - no case of the net creation or
destruction of electric charge has ever been
observed.
In solids, only electrons can move.
Inliquids, gasses, and plasmas, both positive
and negative ions are free to move.
Coulomb’s Law
The fundamental law of electrostatics stating that the force
between two charged particles is directly proportional to the
product of their charges and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them.
F = kq1q2 /r 2
where r - distance between charges
ε0 - permittivity of space
“Define” coulomb (C) as the quantity of charge that
produces a force of 9 x 109 N on objects 1 m apart.
9 10 F = kq
10 N 9
1q2 /r/(1m)
k(1C) 2 22 2
k = 9 10 N 9
For practical reasons, the coulomb is
defined using current and magnetism
giving
k = 8.988 x 109 Nm2/C2
Permittivity of free space
1
0 = = 8.84 10−12 C2 /Nm2
4k
1 q1q2
Then F=
4 0 r 2
Electric field
The potential of electric field of a point charge
If potential 0-level is chosen in infinity The electric field potential at a point in
space is equal to the amount of work we done by electric force to move the test
charge from the point in question to infinity, divided by charge. The electric
potential created by a point charge Qsource, at a distance r from the charge
(relative to the potential at infinity), can be shown to be:
Electric field
Intensity of an electric field E (or strength of an
electric field or electric field) is vector characteristic.
It is defined as the ratio of the force F acting upon the
test charge to the magnitude of the test charge:
The electric field of a point charge can be obtained from
Coulomb's law.
The magnitude of electric field produced by point
charge Qsource at a distance r from this charge (in a point
of M is where the electric field is defined)
Electric field
F Qsource qtest Qsource
E= =k =k
qtest qtest r 2
r 2
An electric field has both magnitude and direction. The
distribution of an electric field in space is visually represented by
the intensity lines (or lines of force or field lines). Electric field-
lines are drawn according to the following rules:
Field lines
• The direction of the electric field is everywhere tangent to the
field-lines, in the sense of the arrows on the lines. The
magnitude of the field is proportional to the number of field-
lines per unit area passing through a small surface normal to
the lines.
Electric field of different charges
Electric field between two plates charged
by the same density of σ but opposite sign
p = qd
Electric Dipole
An electric dipole is a pair of point
electric charges of equal magnitude
but opposite sign, separated by some
small distance.
QUESTION
What is electric filed a distance r from a charge?
What is the electric field that acts upon the electron
in a hydrogen atom, which is 5.3*10-11 m from the
proton that is atom’s nucleus?
A proton is placed in uniform electric field E. To
prevent it from falling under he gravitational force
what must be the magnitude and direction of this field
if the electrostatic force acting on the proton.
A Hydrogen atom consist of a proton (charge +e) and an
electron (charge –e) that are an average 5.3 X 10-11 m apart.
Find the force between them.
E= 1.6X10-19 C.
Two charges one of +5 X 10-7 C and other of -2 X 10-7 C, attract each
other with a force of 100N. How far apart are they?
Copper penny contains both positive and negative charges, each of
a magnitude 1.37 X 105 C. Suppose that these charges could be
concentrated into two separate bundles, held 100m apart. What
attractive force would act on each bundle?
F = kq1q2 /r 2
Three charged particles, held in place by forces.
What electrostatic force, owning to the other two
charges, act on q1? Take q1 = -1.2uC, q2 = +3.7uC,
q3 = -2.3uC, r12 = 15cm, r13 = 10 cm and θ = 32.
