3/6/2009

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Physical Science & Lab Electric Charges, Forces, and Fields

Nguyen Hoang Hai, Ph.D.

Ch.9: Static & Current Electricity

Amber, a form of fossilized tree resin long used to make beautiful beads and other
ornaments, has also made contributions to two different sciences. Pieces of amber
have preserved prehistoric insects and pollen grains for modern students of
evolution. And over 2500 years ago, amber provided Greek scientists with their
first opportunity to study electrical forces—the subject of this chapter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huls7o5L9q8

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Electric Charge Positive and negative charge

Thales 624 BC – 546 BC (wiki)
Charging an amber rod:
An uncharged amber rod (a) exerts no force on scraps of
paper. When the rod is rubbed against a piece of fur (b), it
becomes charged and then attracts the paper (c).
Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the
Founding Fathers of the United States of America. A noted polymath,
Franklin was a leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist,
politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.
He proposed the terms positive and negative charge and developed the
theory of electricity

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Triboelectric charge Electric force and charge

• Positive repels positive + +

• Negative repels negative

• Positive attracts negative
- -

- +

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Electric charge Model of an atom

• Every atom is composed of a positively
charged nucleus surrounded by -
negatively charged electrons
• Each of the electrons in any atom has the
same quantity of negative charge and +
the same mass. Electrons are identical to
one another +
• Protons and neutrons compose the
nucleus. Protons are about 1800 times
more massive than electrons, but each
one carries an amount of positive charge -
equal to the negative charge of
electrons. Neutrons have slightly more
mass than protons and have no net Charge:
charge 1 proton = 1 electron
• The Van de Graaff generator (left) that these children are Mass:
touching can produce very large charges of static electricity. The 1 proton = 1800 electrons
balloon can then attract a stream of water (right), even though 1 proton ~ 1 neutron
water molecules themselves are electrically neutral.

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See atoms Electrical polarization

0,50 nm

b)

[001]

When a charged rod is far from a neutral object, the atoms in the object
are undistorted. As the rod is brought closer, however, the atoms distort,
producing an excess of one type of charge on the surface of the object (in
a)
5 nm this case a negative charge). This induced charge is referred to as a
polarization charge. Because the sign of the polarization charge is the
opposite of the sign of the charge on the rod, there is an attractive force
between the rod and the object.

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Electric conductors Photocopy

•Materials like amber, in which charges are not free to move, are referred to as
insulators. Most insulators are nonmetallic substances, and most are also good
thermal insulators.
•Most metals are good conductors of electricity, in the sense that they allow
charges to move about more or less freely.
•Some materials have properties that are intermediate between those of a
good conductor and a good insulator. These materials, referred to as
semiconductors, can be fine-tuned to display almost any desired degree of
conductivity by controlling the concentration of the various components from
which they are made.
•Exposure to light can sometimes determine whether a given material is an
insulator or a conductor. An example of such a photoconductive material is
selenium, which conducts electricity when light shines on it but is an insulator
when in the dark.

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Magnitude of an Electron's Charge Ions

The charge of an electron is • Normally, an atom has as many electrons as protons. It has no
very small net charge
• If an atom gains electrons, it has negative net charge. If an
e = 1.60 ×10-19 C atom loses electrons, it has positive net charge. Atoms with
more or less electrons than protons are called ions
• Material objects are made of atoms: protons, neutrons,
electrons
• Atoms have many electrons
Charles-Augustin • The innermost electrons are attracted strongly to the
The precise definition of de Coulomb (June oppositely charged atomic nucleus
the coulomb is in terms 14, 1736 – August
23, 1806, Paris,
• The outermost electrons of many atoms are attracted more
of electric current
France) loosely and can easily be dislodged

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Conservation of charge Coulomb’s law

The earth

The sun
• F = k q1q2/d2
• No electrons are created or destroyed. • Unit of charge is C (Coulomb)
Electrons are simply transferred from one • k = 9.000.000.000 Nm2/C2
material to another. Charge is conserved • Value of k (9×109) is much
higher than the value of G
• Conservation of charge, of energy, of (6,67×10-11)
momentum are the fundamental principles in • Gravitational force is
- Electron

physics attractive, whereas the electric

force is either attractive or Nucleus
repulsive +

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx8fH-
r3Luk

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Hydrogen atom Electric field

r = 5,29×10-11 m
mp = 1,67×10-27 kg
me = 9,11×10-31 kg • Force field: electric force can
qp = -qe = 1,6×10-19 C act between things that are
Fg = 3,63×10-47 N
Fe = 8,22×10-8 N not in contact with each other
Fe/Fg = 2,26×1039 due to the force field
Attractive force of the earth < attractive force of the amber rod.
• Force field: gravitational field,
electric field

http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/8/8.02T/
Electric field configuration: line force
f04/visualizations/electrostatics/06-
about a single positive charge and two
DipoleField3d/06-dipField320.html
parallel plates
http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/8/8.02T/
f04/visualizations/electrostatics/01-
VandeGraffAttract/01-
vdg_Attract_320.html

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Electric potential Voltage source, electric current

• A charged object in an electric field has an • To maintain a flow of charge in a conductor, a

electric potential generator arranges a difference in potential while
charge flows from one end to the other
• Electric potential = • Generators separate charge by electromagnetic
electric potential energy/amount of charge induction
• 1 volt = 1 joule/coulomb • Electric current is a flow of charged particles. The
• A 1,5-volt-battery gives 1,5 joules of energy to charged particles in metals are conduction
electrons
every 1 coulomb of charge flowing through
the battery • Electric current is measured by ampere. 1 A = 1
coulomb/1 second
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70gh5GrX • Speed of electrons is 1 cm/s
4xI • Speed of electric field is the speed of light

Charge distribution on a conducting Intense electric field near a sharp

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sphere point
(a) A charge placed on a conducting sphere
distributes itself uniformly on the surface of the
sphere; none of the charge is within the volume of
the sphere. (b) If the charge were distributed
uniformly throughout the volume of a sphere,
individual charges, like that at point A, would
experience a force due to other charges in the
volume. Since charges are free to move in a
conductor, they will respond to these forces by
moving as far from one another as possible; that
is, to the surface of the conductor.
Electric charges and field lines are more densely
packed near a sharp point. This means that the
electric field is more intense in such regions as well.

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Direct and alternative current

• Direct current: Direct current
current does not
change with time
• Alternative time

current: 60 Hz, Alternative

current

• In a dramatic science-museum demonstration of electrical

220 V time

shielding (left), the metal bars of a cage provide excellent

protection from an artificially generated lightning bolt. A more
practical safeguard is the lightning rod (right).

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Direct Current Electric Motor Ohm’s law

• Electric resistance: the movement electrons in
a wire is blocked. Electric resistance is
measured in units of Ohm
• Superconductor: no electric resistance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi7o8c
MPI0E

• Current = voltage/resistance
• Ampere = volt/ohm

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Resistivity Electric shock

Current (A)
0,001 Can be felt
0,005 Is painful
0,010 Muscle contraction
0,015 Loss of muscle control
When cooled below their critical
temperature, superconductors not only 0,070 Go through the heart
lose their resistance to current flow but
also exhibit new magnetic properties, such Depending on the conditions, the electric
as repelling an external magnetic field.
Here, a superconductor (bottom) levitates resistance of the body can vary from 100
a small permanent magnet. to 500.000 ohm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VGAC
LNfZ8s

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Electric circuits Electric power

• Any path along which
electrons can flow is a • Power = current × voltage
circuit
• Series circuit • 1 watt = 1 ampere × 1 volt
• Parallel circuit
• Safety fuse: if the current is
higher than the safety
current, the safety fuse will
break the circuit