Lecture Note - 1-Electric Charge and Coulomb's Law

Lecture Note 1-
Electric Charge
 are particles and was discovered by ancient Greeks as early as 600 B.C. after they rubbed
amber with wool, the amber could attract other objects
 derived from the Greek word elektron, meaning amber
 Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) suggested calling these two kinds of charge negative and
positive, respectively
Basic Principle for Charges:
Two positive charges or two negative charges repel each other. A positive charge and a
negative charge attract each other.
The structure of atoms can be described in terms of three particles:

Electron- the negatively charged
Proton- the positively charged, and
Neutron- the uncharged
Note:
 The proton and neutron are combinations of other entities called quarks, which have
charges of 1/3 and 2/3 times the electron charge.
 The protons and neutrons in an atom make up a small, very dense core called the
nucleus, with dimensions of the order of 10-15 m.
 Surrounding the nucleus are the electrons, extending out to distances of the order of 10-
10
m from the nucleus.
 The negatively charged electrons are held within the atom by the attractive electric forces
exerted on them by the positively charged nucleus. (The protons and neutrons are held
within stable atomic nuclei by an attractive interaction, called the strong nuclear force that
overcomes the electric repulsion of the protons.
Mass of electron = me = 9.10938291(40) x 10-31 kg

Mass of proton = mp = 1.6726217777(42) x 10-27 kg
Mass of neutron = mn = 1.67492735 (42) x 10-27 kg
(The numbers in parentheses are the uncertainties in the last two digits)
 Over 99.9% of the mass of any atom is concentrated in its nucleus
Electron Charge = e= -1.6 x 10-19 C

Proton Charge = p = +1.6 x 10-19 C
Neutral atom-the number of electrons equals the number of protons in the nucleus, and the net
electric charge (the algebraic sum of all the charges) is exactly zero
Atomic number-the number of protons or electrons in a neutral atom of an element
positive ion-If one or more electrons are removed from an atom
negative ion is an atom that has gained one or more electrons
ionization- gain or loss of electrons

Note:
 When the total number of protons in a macroscopic body equals the total number of
electrons, the total charge is zero and the body as a whole is electrically neutral.
 To give a body an excess negative charge, we may either add negative charges to a
neutral body or remove positive charges from that body.
 We can create an excess positive charge by either adding positive charge or removing
negative charge.
 In most cases, negatively charged (and highly mobile) electrons are added or removed,
and a “positively charged body” is one that has lost some of its normal complement of
electrons.
 When we speak of the charge of a body, we always mean its net charge.
Principle of conservation of charge: The algebraic sum of all the electric charges in any
closed system is constant.
“In any charging process, charge is not created or destroyed; it is merely transferred from one
body to another.”
The second important principle is: The magnitude of charge of the electron or proton is a
natural unit of charge.
 Every observable amount of electric charge is always an integer multiple of this basic unit.
We say that charge is quantized.
Note:
 The chemical bonds that hold atoms together to form molecules are due to electric
interactions between the atoms. They include the strong ionic bonds that hold sodium and
chlorine atoms together to make table salt and the relatively weak bonds between the
strands of DNA that record your body’s genetic code.
 When you stand, the normal force exerted on you by the floor arises from electric forces
between charged particles in the atoms of your shoes and the atoms of the floor.
 The tension force in a stretched string and the adhesive force of glue are likewise due to
electric interactions of atoms.
 Conductors permit the easy movement of charge through them, while insulators do not
 Most metals are good conductors, while most nonmetals are insulators
 Within a solid metal such as copper, one or more outer electrons in each atom become
detached and can move freely throughout the material, just as the molecules of a gas can
move through the spaces between the grains in a bucket of sand. The other electrons
remain bound to the positively charged nuclei, which themselves are bound in nearly fixed
positions within the material. In an insulator there are no, or very few, free electrons, and
electric charge cannot move freely through the material.
 Some materials called semiconductors are intermediate in their properties between good
conductors and good insulators
Charging by Induction
Induction
Induced charges
Polarization- a slight shifting of charge within the molecules of the neutral insulator due to a
nearby charged body.
Coulomb’s Law
Charles Augustin de Coulomb (1736–1806)- studied the interaction forces of charged particles in
detail in 1784.
The magnitude of the electric force between two point charges is directly proportional to
the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them.
In mathematical terms, the magnitude F of the force that each of two point charges q1 and q2 a
distance r apart exerts on the other can be expressed as
/𝑞1 𝑞2 /
𝐹=𝑘
𝑟2
1
𝑘=
4𝜋𝜖𝑜
𝐶2
And 𝜖𝑜 = 8.854 x 10−12 𝑁.𝑚2
Thus,
1 𝑁. 𝑚2
𝑘= = 9.0𝑥109
4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝐶2
where k is a proportionality constant whose numerical value depends on the system of units used.
The absolute value bars are used because the charges q1 and q2 can be either positive or
negative, while the force magnitude F is always positive.
The directions of the forces the two charges exert on each other are always along the line joining
them. When the charges q1 and q2 have the same sign, either both positive, or both negative,
the forces are repulsive; when the charges have opposite signs, the forces are attractive. The two
forces obey Newton’s third law; they are always equal in magnitude and opposite in direction,
even when the charges are not equal in magnitude.
Example:
Two point charges, q1 = +25 nC and q2 = -75 nC, are separate by a distance r = 3.0 cm. Find the
magnitude and direction of the electric force
(a) that q1 exerts on q2 and
(b) that q2 exerts on q1.
/𝑞1 𝑞2 / 9
𝑁. 𝑚2 (+25𝑥10−9 𝐶)(−75𝑥10−9 𝐶)
𝐹=𝑘 = 9.0𝑥10 | | = 0.019 𝑁
𝑟2 𝐶2 (3𝑥10−2 )2
LET US RESOLVE/DISCUSS THE DIRECTION NEXT MEETING. FOR NOW, READ HOW
LASER PRINTER AND PHOTCOPIER WORK IN RELATION TO CHARGES.

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Lecture Note 1-

The structure of atoms can be described in terms of three particles:

Mass of electron = me = 9.10938291(40) x 10-31 kg

 Over 99.9% of the mass of any atom is concentrated in its nucleus

Electron Charge = e= -1.6 x 10-19 C

negative ion is an atom that has gained one or more electrons

ionization- gain or loss of electrons

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