Topic1 Electric

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to: 1. Describe the basic properties of electric charges;

Chargesand Forces

2. Explain that charging is the separation, not the creation, of charges and distinguish the difference between conductors and insulators; 3. Describe the nature of electrostatic forces between charges; and 4. Solve electrostatic problems using Coulombs law.

INTRODUCTION

Do you know that lightning is an electrical phenomenon? The very mild electric shock that you experience upon touching a metallic door-knob after walking across a carpet room on a dry day is another example of this. In each of these cases, sparks are created, even though the effect is momentary. In modern industries, certain impurities (either solid particles or liquid droplets) are removed through electrostatic precipitation. These are all static electricity phenomena that can only be explained by understanding the physics of electrostatics. There is a thus an overlap between the world of static electricity and the everyday world that we live. Electrostatic forces are central to our existence. For example, the human body is made up of atoms. Each atom, consisting of negative and positive charges, is held together by these forces. Without electrostatic forces, life would be impossible. In this chapter we will begin our study by examining the nature of electric charges, which are carried by electrons and protons. Since electric charges are quantised, they obey the conservation principle. We then discuss interactions between charges that are at rest, called electrostatic interactions. Such interactions are responsible for holding atoms and molecules together in your body. Finally,

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we will study Coulomb's law, which is the basic law governing the interaction between electric charges.

1.1

ELECTRIC CHARGE

There are a few simple experiments that you can try at home to demonstrate the nature of electrostatic charges. For example, you will notice that when a glass rod is rubbed with a silk cloth, it is able to attract tiny bits of paper. A similar effect is also seen when a plastic comb is run through dry hair and brought near tiny pieces of paper. In each of these examples, we say that the rod has become "electrified" or electrically charged. Today we, know there exists only 2 kinds of electric charge; a positive charge (+) and a negative charge (-). How do these charges interact with one another? Experiments demonstrate that Unlike charges attract, i.e. a positive charge and a negative charge attract each other. Like charge repel i.e. two positive charges or two negative charges and repel each other.

This is the nature of electric charges.

Figure 1.1: The nature of charges

1.1.1

The structure of the atom

All objects are composed of atoms. The structure of an atom consists of a nucleus at the centre and a vast region of space outside the nucleus. The nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons. A proton has a positive charge, and the electron a negative charge. The neutron carries no charge.

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ELECTRIC CHARGES AND FORCES

One of the most interesting things to know about the atom is that the electron and the nucleus attract each other. This attraction is called electrostatic force, the force that holds the electron in orbit. SELF-CHECK 1.1 Since the electron is attracted to the nucleus, what stops the electron from falling straight into the nucleus and combining with it? Try to answer this on your own. Then read the discussion in: http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/estatics/u8l1a.html However, electrons are weakly bound to the atom and can be removed. This makes it possible for electrons to be transferred from one object to another during an electrostatic process.

Figure 1.2: Structure of an atom

When we rub two initially neutral objects together (i.e. objects having an equal number of electrons and protons), like silk and a glass rod, no charge is created in the process. How is it then possible for these two objects to become charged? During the rubbing process, electrons are removed from the atoms of the glass and transferred to silk. As a result, the glass rod becomes positively charged. An excess of electrons deposited on the silk causes it to become negatively charged.

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The magnitude of the negative charge on the silk is equal to the magnitude of the positive charge on the glass rod. See Figure 1.3. This suggests that rubbing does not create new charges - it merely transfers them from one object to another. Thus, charge can neither be created nor destroyed.

Figure 1.3: Rubbing with silk produces positive charges in the glass rod. Note that an equal amount of negative charge is produced in silk. The fact of the matter is that electric charges are conserved, and can neither be created nor destroyed. They can only be transferred from one object to another.

This important observation brings us to a very fundamental law in physics: the law of conservation of electric charge. This law states that the net charge of an isolated system remains constant. ACTIVITY 1.1 An electroscope is an instrument used to detect the presence of electrostatic charges. Design a simple electroscope using everyday materials. You do not have to physically build the electroscope, but your design should theoretically work based on the electrostatic principles you have just learned.

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ELECTRIC CHARGES AND FORCES

1.2

THE UNIT OF CHARGE

The SI standard unit of charges is the Coulomb, which is represented by the symbol C. The charge of an individual electron is - 1.610-19 C. The magnitude of the charge of an individual electron is known as the elementary charge. One coulomb is the total charge of 6.251018 electrons. The charge that produces a large lightning bolt is about 10 C.

1.2.1

Charge Quantisation

Experiments have shown that if an object is charged, its charge is always a multiple of the elementary charge, e. This implies that an object can have a charge of e, 2e, 3e, 4e , and so on. But it can never have a value like 1.4e, 3.4e, 7.8e etc. We can express this restriction mathematically as:
Q = ne

(1.1)

where n = 1, 2, 3, ..and e = 1.60 1019 C, is the elementary charge. Equation 1.1 represents the quantised nature of electric charge. By quantised, we are just saying that any charge Q is just an integer multiple of e. Example 1.1 How many electrons must you remove from an electrically-neutral 10 sen coin to give it a charge of + 1.6 10-3 C? Solution In order to give the neutral 10 sen coin a charge of +1.6mC, we have to remove an equal amount of negative charge ie 1.6 10-3 C. We already know that the charge of a single electron is. So the number of electrons that we have to remove from the 10 sen coin is obtained by dividing 1.6 10-3 C with the charge of a single electron:

-1.610 3 C = 11016 electrons 1.6 10 19 C

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EXERCISE 1.2 How many electrons are needed to give a charge of 2C?

1.3

CONDUCTORS AND INSULATORS

Can you distinguish between conductors and insulators? In general, glass, ceramic, dry wood, most plastics, and dry air are all good insulators. Insulators do not allow electric charge to move easily through them. In order words, virtually all the electrons in insulators are tightly bound. Consequently, charge does not move easily through an insulator. Materials such as metals can conduct electricity and they are good conductors. In conductors, the outermost electrons (or the valence electron) in atoms are loosely bound. Thus, these electrons can be easily removed from their parent atoms and become free electrons that move freely within a conductor. Another class of materials is called semiconductors. Their ability to conduct electricity is somewhere between those of insulators and conductors The electronic components in your hand-phones and computers are made from semiconductor materials. Two well-known semiconductors are germanium and silicon. SELF-CHECK 1.2 The usefulness of a conductor and its opposite, the insulator, is quite obvious. How about a semi-conductor? If a semiconductor has properties that are between that of a conductor and an insulator, then it is neither a good conductor nor a good insulator. Yet it is widely used in modern electronics. How can a semiconductor be useful, considering its halfhearted properties? Explain.

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1.4
(a) (b) (a)

CHARGING A CONDUCTOR

The charge distribution of a conductor can be changed by the presence of external charges during a charging process. A metal may be charged in two ways: By direct contact, and By induction. Charging by direct contact A metal sphere that is placed on an insulating stand is initially neutral. What happens when we touch the sphere with a positively charged plastic rod? Electrons are transferred from the sphere to the rod, leaving the sphere with a positive charge. Finally when the rod is removed, positive the charge spreads evenly over the metal sphere and remains there because the insulating stand prevents its flow to the ground. See Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3: Charging a metal sphere with a positively charged rod

(b)

Charging by Induction: We are also able to charge a conductor through induction. This process is shown in Figure 1.4. If we bring a negatively charged plastic rod near a neutral metal sphere that is on an insulating stand, the charges on the sphere will be separated. The positive charges will be induced on the surface closest to the rod. At the same time, the part furthest away from the rod will become negatively charged. As illustrated in Figure 1.4, when the metal is connected to the ground by a wire, the free electrons on the sphere flow to the ground. When the connection with the ground is removed followed by the rod, the sphere will become positively charged.

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Figure 1.4: Charging by induction

1.5

ELECTROSTATIC FORCES

Remember we have mentioned the word electrostatics earlier. Electrostatics means that the electric charges that we are dealing with are at rest. The interaction between two charges is known as the electrostatic force. Lets recap the nature of charges: Like charges, i.e. two positive charges (+Q and +Q) or two negative charges (Q and Q) always repel each other. Unlike charges, i.e. a positive charge (+Q) and a negative charge (Q) always attract each other.

The properties of the electrostatic forces are shown in Figure 1.5. Q F (a) Q Q +Q F (b)

Figure 1.5: Properties of electrostatic forces (a) like charges repel (b) unlike charges attract

Note that forces are vector quantities and require vector analysis (you have learned this in the SBPH 2103 course). You will also recall that a force vector is represented by the symbol F, which has magnitude F and direction . The horizontal and vertical components of vector F are given as F cos and F sin respectively.

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1.6

COULOMB'S LAW

Electrostatic forces are often referred to as Coulomb forces. In 1785, Charles Augustin de Coulomb (1736-1806) found that the magnitude of the force (F) between two electrically point charges is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance (r2) between them. We can write these relationships as follows:
F Q1Q2

(1.2) (1.3)

1 r2
Q1Q2 r2

or

F = k

(1.4)

Equation (1.4) is called Coulombs Law. k is a constant that depends on the medium in which the charges are situated. (N). 1 For charges that are placed in free-space or vacuum, k = , where 0 is 4 0 called the permittivity of vacuum. Therefore, Coulombs law can also be written as

1 Q1Q2 4 0 r 2

(1.5)

The value of 0 is 8.85 1012 C 2 / N m 2 , and so k = 9.0 109 Nm 2 / C 2 . If the charges are placed in a medium other than vacuum, we must replace 0 in Equation (1.5) with , where is called the permittivity of that medium. Note the relation:

= 0

(1.6)

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In Equation (1.6), is a number that depends on the medium and 1.For example, the values of for air, benzene, acetone and water are 1.005, 2.3, 27 and 80 respectively. Example 1.2 What is the type and magnitude of the Coulomb force between two point charges 2 C and + 5 C having a distance of 0.03 m apart in vacuum? Solution Since they are unlike charges, the force is an attractive one. The magnitude force can be calculated according to equation (1.5). Thus
F = 1 Q1Q 2 (2.010-6 )(5.010-6 ) 9 = (9.010 ) = 100 N. 4 0 r 2 (0.03 ) 2

Example 1.3 Two identical negative charges repel each other with a force of magnitude 9 N. The distance between the charges is 1 cm. What are the values on each charge? Solution F = 9 N. k = 910 9 Nm 2 / C 2 , r = 1 cm =0.01 m kq q From Coulombs Law: F = 12 2 r 2 kq But since q1 = q2 , F = 2 r Therefore the value on each charge is q = Fr 2 9 0.012 = = 3.16 107 C 9 k 9 10

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EXERCISE 1.3 1. Two positive charges of 6.0 C are 3 cm apart. What is the magnitude of the force that exists between the charges? What is the nature of this force? A negative charge of 2 C and a positive charge of + 10 C are separated by 0.03 m. What is the magnitude of the force between the two charges? Two charges 1.5 m apart in air, each experiences a force of 2.0 N. (a) (b) Find the force between them if the separation between them is increased to 2.0 m. Find the force between them if the relative permittivity of the medium separating them is 5.

2.

3.

1.7

THE SUPERPOSITION PRINCIPLE

Coulombs law gives us the force which two charges, Q1, and Q2 exert on each other when there are no other charges present around them. Suppose a third charge, Q3 is now introduced. How would you then find the total electrostatic force acting on Q1 due to Q2 and Q3? In order to work the force acting on Q1, we need to apply the Superposition principle. According to the superposition principle, the resultant force on Q3 is given by: F = F12 + F13 (1.7)

where F12 is the force on q1 due to the presence of charge q2 and F13 is the force on q1 due to charge q3. While solving a problem, it is useful to resolve the individual force vectors into their components to find the resultant force. The following examples will help illustrate this technique.

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Example 1.4: The figure below shows three small charges, Q1= 2 C, Q2=5 C, Q3=3 C, located along the positive x-axis. What is the (i) direction, and (ii) magnitude of the resultant force exerted by these two charges on Q2?

Q1

Q2

Q3

0.03m Solution

0.03m

F12

F32

Q1 (i)

Q2

Q3

The force, F12 exerted by Q1 on Q2 is attractive because these two charges have opposite signs. Similarly, the force F32 exerted by Q3 on Q2 is repulsive because both these two charges have the same sign.
The magnitudes of these forces are given by Coulombs Law: QQ (2.0 106 )(5.0 106 ) F12 = k 1 2 2 = (9.0 109 ) = 100 N, r12 (0.03) 2
F32 = k Q3Q2 (3.0 106 )(5.0 10 6 ) 9 = (9.0 10 ) = 150 N, r32 2 (0.03) 2

(ii)

Note that both these forces act towards the left The magnitude of the resultant force is thus 150+100=50 N. This resultant force points in the x direction.

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Example 1.5 An equilateral triangle has sides of 0.03 m. Consider three charges that are placed at the corners of this triangle as shown below in Fig. 1.6(a), where Q1 = 3 C , Q2 = 1 C and Q3 = 4 C . Calculate the magnitude and direction of the resultant electric force acting on Q2.
Q1

0.03 m

0.03 m

F12

F32

F

Q2

Q3

0.03 m
Figure 1.6 (a)

Figure 1.6 (b)

Solution

The force, F12 exerted by Q1 on Q2 is attractive because these two charges have opposite signs. Similarly, the force F32 exerted by Q3 on Q2 is also attractive because these two charges have opposite signs. Let F be the resultant force. See Figure 1.6 (b)
The magnitudes of these forces are given by Coulombs Law:
F12 = k Q1Q2 (3.0 10 6 )(1.0 106 ) 9 = (9.0 10 ) = 30 N r12 2 (0.03) 2

F32 = k

Q3Q2 (4.0 106 )(1.0 10 6 ) 9 = (9.0 10 ) = 40 N r12 2 (0.03) 2

Notice that the electrostatic force is a vector quantity with 2 components, which lie along the x and y axes, respectively:
Force

F12
F32

F12 cos60 = 15N

40N

x-component

F12 sin60 = 25.98 N

0

y-component

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We can now add up the two forces vectorially to find the x and y components of the resultant force, F : Fx = 15 + 40 = 55N
Fy = 25.98 + 0 26N The
2

magnitude
2 2

of

the

resultant

force

is

F = Fx + Fy = 55 + 26 = 3701 = 60.8 N and it makes an angle of with the x-xis that is given by Fy 26 = tan -1 ( ) == tan -1 = 25.3o Fx 55

EXERCISE 1.3
1. Two point charges 2 C and 5 C are located at 2 cm and 3 cm respectively from the origin on the positive x-axis. What is the total force exerted by these two charges on a third charge of 3 mC at the origin? What is the direction? Two point charges 4 C and +4 C are located at coordinates (0, 3 cm) and (0, 3 cm) respectively. A third point charge +3 C is located at (4cm, 0). Find the magnitude and direction of the total force on the third charge

2.

There are two kinds of electric charges, positive and negative. Electrons are the negatives and protons are the positives. Electric charges are conserved; they cannot be created or destroyed. Transferring electrons to or from an object is the way to charge the object. An object is charged negatively by adding electrons to it or it can be charged positively by removing electrons from it. Charges added to one part of an insulator remains there but charges added to a conductor very quickly spreads over the body.

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ELECTRIC CHARGES AND FORCES 15

A neutral body has an equal number of positive and negative charges. A charged body of either sign can produce a separation of charge in a neutral body. There is an electric force between two charged bodies. Like charges repel and unlike charges attract. Coulomb's law states that the force between two charged objects is proportional to the product of the charges Q1Q2 and inversely proportional to the square of the distance r 2 between the centres of the objects

Conductor Coulombs Law Electric Charges

Electrons Superposition Principle

1.

(a) (b)

How many electrons are contained in 2C of charge ? What is the total mass of these electrons?

2.

Two positive charges, +Q and +10Q exert a repulsive force F on each other. If the distance between them is tripled, what is the new repulsive force in terms of F?

1.

The figure below shows three small positive charges, Q1= 2 C, Q2=5 C, Q3=3 C, located along the positive x-axis. What is the magnitude and direction of the resultant force exerted by these two charges on Q3?

Q1 0.03m 2.

Q2 0.03m

Q3

Two small positively charged objects experience a repulsive force of magnitude 2 N when they are 0.2 m apart. The sum of the charges on the objects is 2 C. Find the charge on each object.