Representing Electric Fields The direction of electric fields is represented by electric field lines Electric field lines are directed from positive to negative © Therefore, the field lines must be pointed away from the positive charge and towards the negative charge Aradial field spreads uniformly to or from the charge in all directions © e.g. the feld around a point charge or sphere Around a point charge, the electric field lines are directly radially inwards or outwards © If the chargeis positive (+), the field lines are radially outwards © If the charge is negative (-), the field lines are radially inwardsFIELD LINES ARE DRAWN PERPENDICULAR TO THE CHARGE FIELD LINES DIRECTED AWAY FROM A POSITIVE CHARGE POSITIVE POINT CHARGE NEGATIVE POINT CHARGE FIELD LINES DIRECTED TOWARDS, A NEGATIVE CHARGE Electric field lines point away froma positive charge and point towards a negative charge This shares many similarities to radial gravitational field lines around a point mass * Since gravityis only an attractive force, the field lines will look similar to the negative point charge, whilst electric field lines can be ineither directionThis shares many similarities to radial gravitational field lines around @ point mass Since gravity is only an attractive force, the field lines will look similar to the negative point charge, whilst electric field lines can be in either direction Auniform electric field has the same electric field strength throughout the field © Forexample, the field between oppositely charged parallel plates This is represented by equally spaced feld lines © This shares many similarities to uniform gravitational field lines on the surface of a planet Anon-uniform electric field has varying electric field strength throughout The strength of an electric field is determined by the spacing of the field lines: © Astronger feldis represented by the field lines closer together © Aweaker field is represented by the field lines further apartTHE E FIELD) LINES ARE EVENLY SPACED FIELD LINES DIRECTED FROM THE POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE PLATE THE E FIELD STRENGTH IS EQUAL AT ALL tee ee eee FIELD UNIFORM E FIELD BETWEEN TWO CHARGED PARALLEL PLATES POINTS IN THIS tet ee ergs NON-UNIFORM E FIELD THE E FIELD STRENGTH 1S STRONGER HERE SINCE THE LINES ARE CLOSER TOGETHER The electric field between two parallel plates is directed from the positive to the negative plate. A uniform E field has equally spaced field lines* The electric field lines are directed from the positive to the negative plate * Aradial heldis considered a non-uniform field © So, the electric field strength Eis different depending on how far youare from a charged particle Worked example Sketch the electric field lines between the two point charges in the diagram below. Oo oO+ The electric feld lines are directed from the positive to the negative plate * Aradial field is considered a non-uniform feld © So, the electric feld strength Eis different depending on how faryou are froma charged particle Worked example Sketch the electric field lines between the two paint charges in the diagram below. * Electric fteld lines around point charges are radially outwards for positive charges and radially inwards for negative charges + The feld lines must be drawn with arrows from the positive charge to the negative chargeElectric Field Strength The electric field strength of a uniform field between two charged parallel plates is defined as: AV Where: © E=electric field strength(Vm") © AV=potential difference between the plates (V) © Ad= separation between the plates (m) Note: the electric field strength is now also defined by the units Vm" The equation shows: © The greater the voltage between the plates, the stronger the field © The greater the separation between the plates, the weaker the field Remember this equation cannot beused to find the electric field strength around a point charge (since this would be a radial field) The direction of the electric fields from the plate connected to the positive terminal of the cell to the plate connected to the negative terminalPOTENTIAL DIFFERENCE ETWEEN THE PLATES ELECTRIC FIELD LINES ARE DIRECTED FROM , THE PLATE CONNECTED TO THE POSITIVE TERMINAL TO THAT CONNECTED TO THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL SEPARATION OF THE PLATES The E field strength between two charged parallel plates is the ratio of the potential difference and separation of the plates * Note: if one of the parallel plates is earthed, it has a voltage of OVWorked example Two parallel metal plates are separated by 3.5 cm and have a potential difference of 7.9kV. Calculate the electric force acting ona stationary charged particle between the plates thathas a charge of 2.6 x 10° c Step 1: Write down the known values Potential difference, AV = 7.9 kV =7.9 x 10°V Distance between plates, Ad = 3.5cm= 3.5 x 102m Charge, Q=2.6 x10-8C Step 2: Calculate the electric field strength between the parallel plates Step 3: Write out the equation for electric force ona charged particle F=QE Step 4: Substitute electric field strength and charge into electric force equation F=QE= (2.6 x 10°") x (2.257 x 10°) = 5.87 x10 '°N=5.9x 10 N (2s.f.)Electric Field of a Point Charge The electric field strength at a point describes how strong or weak an electric fieldis at that point The electric field strength Eat a distance rdue to apoint charge @in free space is defined by: Where © Q=the charge producing the electric field (C) © r=distance fromthe centre of the charge (m) © &=permittivity of free space (Fm) This equation shows: © Electric field strength isnot constant © Asthe distance from the charge rincreases, Edecreases by a factor of 1/17 This is an inverse square law relationship with distance This means the feld strength decreases by a factor of four when the distance is doubled Note: this equation is only for the field strength around a point charge sinceit produces a radial field The electric field strength isa vector Its directions the sameas the electric heldlines © Ifthe charges negative, the E held strength is negative and points towards the centre of the charge © Ifthe chargeis positive, the E field strengths positive and points away from the centre af the charge This equationis analogous to the gravitational field strength around a point massWorked example Ametal sphere of diameter 15 cmis negatively charged. The electric field strength at the surface of the sphereis 1.5 x10°V m"!. Determine the total surface charge of the sphere. Step 1: Write down the known values Electric field strength, E = 1.5 x 10°Vm™ Radius of sphere, r= 15 /2 = 7.5cm=7.5 x10°?m Step 2: Write out the equation for electric field strength Step 3: Rearrange for charge Q Q = 49? Step 4: Substitute in values Qs (41x 8.85 x 10°) x (1.5 x 105) x (7.5 x 107 38 x 108 C = 94nC (25.f)Motion of Charged Particles * Acharged particle in an electric field will experience a force on it that will cause itto move Ifacharged particle remains stillin a uniform electric field, it will move parallel to the electric field lines (along or against the field lines depending on its charge) If acharged particle sin motion through a uniform electric field (e.g. between two charged parallel plates), it will experience a constant electric force and travel in a parabolic trajectory + + + + + + + + + l 1 PARABOLIC TRAJECTORY ( ~ “ ] A POSITIVE CHARGE WILL TRAVEL TOWARDS THE NEGATIVE PLATEC “ J A NEGATIVE CHARGE WILL TRAVEL TOWARDS THE POSITIVE PLATE The parabolic path of charged particles in a uniformelectric field The direction of the parabola will depend on the charge of the particle © Apositive charge will be deflected towards the negative plate © Anegative charge will be deflected towards the positive plate The force on the particle is the same at all points and is always in the same direction Note: an uncharged particle, such as a neutron experiences no force in an electric field and will therefore travel straight through the plates undefiected The amount of deflection depends on the following properties of the particles: © Mass - the greater the mass, the smaller the deflection and vice versa © Charge - the greater the magnitude of the charge of the particle, the greater the deflection and vice versa © Speed - the greater the speed of the particle, the smaller the deflection and vice versaCoulomb's Law Allcharged particles produce an electric field around it © This field exerts a force on any other charged particle within range The electrostatic force between two charges is defined by Coulomb's Law © Recall that the charge of a uniform spherical conductor canbe considered asa point charge at itscentre Coulomb's Law states that The electrostatic force between two point charges is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of their separation The Coulomb equation is defined as:The electrostatic force between two charges is defined by Coulomb's Law Where: © Fe= electrostatic force between two charges (N) © Qiand Q2 = two point charges (C) © €9= permittivity of free space ° r=distance between the centre of the charges (m) The 1/r? relation is called the inverse square law © This means that when a charge is twice as faras away from another, the electrostatic force between them reduces by (4)? =Y% If there is a positive and negative charge, then the electrostatic force is negative, this canbe interpreted as an attractive force if the charges are the same, the electrostatic force is positive, this can be interpreted as arepulsive force Since uniformly charged spheres can be considered as point charges, Coulomb's law canbe applied to find the electrostatic force between them as long as the separationis taken from the centre of both spheresWorked example Analpha particle is situated 2.0 mm away froma gold nucleus in a vacuum. Assuming them to be point charges, calculate the magnitude of the electrostatic force acting on each of the charges.Atomic number of helium = 2Atomic number of gold = 79Charge of an electron =1,60 x107C Step 1: Write down the known quantities © Distance, r= 2.0mm =2.0 x 103m The charge of one proton = +1.60 x 10-9. Analpha particle (helium nucleus) has 2 protons © Charge of alpha particle, Q = 2x 1.60 «10-9 = +3.2 x10-¥C The gold nucleus has 79 protons © Charge of gold nucleus, Q2 = 79 x 1.60 x 10" = +1.264 x10-7'CStep 2: The electrostatic force between two point chargesis given by Coulomb's Law Q,Q, Fee Aneyr Step 3: Substitute values into Coulomb's Law (3.2 x 10°!) x (1.264 x 10°!7) Fee 5 = 9.092.. * 107" = 9.1 * 107 N (2 SF.) (4m x 8.85 x 107!) x (2.0 x 10°)