Physics 014

Lecture 1
Chapter 21 Electric Charge
 Dr. Mengs H. Weldegaber

Office hours: Thirkield Hall, Room 215, MWF 12:00-1:00pm

(or by appointment)

Phone: (202) 806-6257

Email: mengshw@gmail.com

My Research:
Atmospheric Physics
Numerical Modeling
 Course Details
See: Syllabus, schedule, grade policy,

Text: Fundamentals of Physics, Halliday, Resnick, and Walker,

9th edition. We will cover chapters 21-36 in this class.

Exams:
Midterm: 11 Oct 2013
Final Exam (cumulative): 13 Dec 2013

Quizzes:
Weekly.

Grades: Homework 30%,

Quizzes 15% ,
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 35%.
 What are we going to learn?
A road map
Electric charge
Electric force on other electric charges
Electric field, and electric potential
Moving electric charges : current
Electronic circuit components: batteries, resistors, capacitors
Electric currents Magnetic field
Magnetic force on moving charges
Time-varying magnetic field Electric Field
More circuit components: inductors, AC circuits.
Maxwells equations Electromagnetic waves light waves
Geometrical Optics (light rays).
Physical optics (light waves): interference, diffraction.
 Lets get started!
Electric charges
Two types of charges: positive/negative
Like charges repel
Opposite charges attract

Atomic structure :
negative electron cloud
nucleus of positive protons, uncharged neutrons
 Electric Charge
(a) Two charged rods of the same sign
repel each other.

(b) Two charged rods of opposite signs

attract each other. Plus signs indicate a
positive net charge, and minus signs
indicate a negative net charge.
Charles-Augustin
de Coulomb
(1736-1806)
Force between pairs of point
charges: Coulombs law
q1 F12 F21 q2

or F12 q1 q2 F21

or F12 q1 q 2 F21

Coulombs law -- the force between point charges:

Lies along the line connecting the charges.
Is proportional to the magnitude of each charge.
Is inversely proportional to the distance squared.
Note that Newtons third law says |F12| = |F21|!!
 Coulombs law
q1 F12 F21 q2

r12
For charges in a
k | q1 | | q2 | VACUUM
| F12 | 2
r12 k= 8. 99 10 9 N m
C2
2

Often, we write k as:

2
12 C
k 1 with 0 8.85 10
4 0 Nm 2
Materials classified based on their ability to move
charge
Conductors are materials in which a significant number of
electrons are free to move. Examples include metals.
The charged particles in nonconductors (insulators) are not
free to move. Examples include rubber, plastic, glass.
Semiconductors are materials that are intermediate between
conductors and insulators; examples include silicon and
germanium in computer chips.
Superconductors are materials that are perfect conductors,
allowing charge to move without any hindrance.
 Electric charges in solids
In macroscopic solids, nuclei
often arrange themselves into
a stiff regular pattern called a
lattice.

Electrons move around this

lattice. Depending on how
they move the solid can be
classified by its electrical
properties as an insulator or a
conductor.
 Charges in solids
In a conductor, electrons move around freely, forming a
sea of electrons. This is why metals conduct electricity.
Charges can be induced (moved around) in conductors.

Blue background = mobile

electrons
Red circles = static positive charge (nuclei)

+ -

+ -
 Insulating solids
In an insulator, each electron cloud is tightly bound to the
protons in a nucleus. Wood, glass, rubber.
Note that the electrons are not free to move throughout the
lattice, but the electron cloud can distort locally.

+ -
 How to charge an object
An object can be given some excess charge: giving
electrons to it (we give it negative charge) or
taking electrons away (we give it positive charge).

How do we do charge an object? Usually, moving charges

from one surface to another by adhesion (helped by friction),
or by contact with other charged objects.

If a conductor, the whole electron sea redistributes itself.

If an insulator, the electrons stay where they are put.

 Conservation of Charge
Total amount of charge in an isolated system is fixed (conserved)

Example: 2 identical metal

spheres have charges
+1C and 2C.
+1C 2C
You connect these together
with a metal wire; what is the ? ?
final charge distribution?
 Conservation of Electric Charges
A glass rod is rubbed with silk

Electrons are transferred from

the glass to the silk

Each electron adds a negative

charge to the silk

An equal positive charge is

left on the rod
 Conservation of Electric Charges
A very hard rubber rod is
rubbed with animal fur

Electrons are transferred

from the fur to the rubber

Each electron adds a (very hard rubber)

negative charge to the
rubber

An equal positive charge

is left on the fur
 Quantization of Charge
Charge is always found in INTEGER multiples
of the charge on an electron/proton ([[why?]])
Unit of charge: Coulomb (C) in SI units
Electron charge = e = 1.6 x 10-19 Coulombs
Proton charge = +e = +1.6 x 10-19 Coulombs
One cannot ISOLATE FRACTIONAL CHARGE
(e.g. 0.8 x 10-19 C, +1.9 x 10-19 C, etc.) [[but what
about quarks?]]
Unit of current: Ampere = Coulomb/second
 Superposition
Question: How do we figure out the force
on a point charge due to many other point
charges?
Answer: consider one pair at a time,
calculate the force (a vector!) in each case
using Coulombs Law and finally add all
the vectors! (superposition)
Useful to look out for SYMMETRY to
simplify calculations!
Multiple Forces: If multiple electrostatic forces act on a particle,
the net force is the vector sum (not scalar sum) of the individual
forces.

Shell Theories: There are two shell theories for electrostatic force

Answer: (a) left towards the electron

(b) left away from the other proton
(c) left
Coulombs law, Review
q1 F12 F21 q2

r12

k | q1 | | q2 |
| F12 | 2
r12

2
N m
k= 8.99 109
C2
 Example 1. Find the net force on q1 ?

Soln
q1 q2 8.99 10 N m C 3.0 10 C 4.0 10
9 2 2 6 6
C
F12 k 2 2.7N
0.20m
2
r

q1 q3 8.99 10 N m C 3.0 10 C 7.0 10

9 2 2 6 6
C
F13 k 2 8.4N
0.15m
2
r

F F12 F13 2.7 N 8.4 N 5.7N

Example 2. Find the net force on q3 ?

The force exerted

r by
q1 on q3 is F13
The force exerted
r by
q2 on q3 is F23
The resultant force
exerted on q3 isr the r
vector sum of F13 and F23
 Example 3. Determine the speed of the electron in orbit about
the nuclear proton at a radius of 5.29x10-11 m,
assuming the orbit to be circular [The Bohr
model of the hydrogen atom]?

Soln
q1 q2 8.99 10 N m C 1.60 10 C
9 2 2 19 2

Fk 2 8.22 108 N
5.29 10 m
2
r 11

F mac mv 2 r

v Fr m
8.22 10 N5.29 10
8 11
m
2.18 10 6 m s
9.11 10 31kg
 Example 4: Find the force on q1
Three equal charges q1= q2= q3= 20 C q1
form an equilateral d
triangle of side 1.5 m as
d
shown
q3
Compute the force on q1
d
What is the force on the q2
other charges?
y
Solution: Set up a coordinate system, 60 o F12
compute vector sum of F12 and F13 1
x
F13
d
d
3

d
2
 Summary
Electric charges come with two signs: positive and negative.

Like charges repel, opposite charges attract, with a magnitude

calculated from Coulombs law: F=kq1q2/r2

Atoms have a positive nucleus and a negative cloud.

Electron clouds can combine and flow freely in conductors;

are stuck to the nucleus in insulators.

We can charge objects by transferring charge, or by induction.

Electrical charge is conserved, and quantized.