KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA, JALGAON

STUDY MATERIAL – PHYSICS (CLASS XIIth)

UNIT-I ELECTROSTATICS
Subject Teacher: Vivek Sawhney

TOPIC: COULOMB’S LAW

Charge is the property of matter that causes it to produce and

experience electrical and magnetic effects. The study of the electrical charges at
rest is called electrostatics. When both electrical and magnetic effects are
present, the interaction between charges is referred to as electromagnetic.

There exist two types of charges in nature : positive and negative. Like charges
repel and unlike charges attract each other.

The type of charge on an electron is negative. The charge of a proton is the same
as that of an electron but with a positive sign. In an atom, the number of
electrons and the number of protons are equal. The atom is, therefore,
electrically neutral. If one or more electrons are added to it, it becomes negatively
charged and is designated as negative ion. However, if one or more electrons are
removed from an atom, it becomes positively charged and is called a positive ion.

The excess or deficiency of electrons in a body gives the concept of charge. If

there is an excess of electrons in a body, it is negatively charged. And if there is
deficiency of electrons, the body becomes positively charged. Whenever addition
or removal of electrons takes places, the body acquires a charge.

The SI Unit of charge is coulomb (C). In SI units, the current is a fundamental

quantity, having a unit of ampere (A). The unit of charge is defined in terms of the
unit of current. Thus, one coulomb is the charge transferred in one second
across the section of a wire carrying a current of one ampere.
 As q = It, we have
1 C = (1 A) (1 s)

The dimensions of charge are [A T].

Properties of Charge
(1) Quantization of Charge : Electric charge can have only discrete values, rather
than any value. That is, charge is quantized. The smallest discrete value of charge
that can exist in nature is the charge on an electron, given as

e = ± 1.6 x 10- 19 C

This is the charge attained by an electron and a proton.

A charge q must be an integral multiple of this basic unit. That is,

Q = ± ne where n = 1, 2, …

Charge on a body can never be (½)e, (2/3)e, or 5.7e, etc.

When we rub a glass rod with silk, some electrons are transferred from the rod to
the silk. The rod becomes positively charged. The silk becomes negatively
charged. The coulomb is a very large amount of charge. A typical charge acquired
by a rubbed body is 10 - 8 C.

Application

1 A body is having a charge of +0.32 C. How many electrons have been added to
or removed from it ?

Solution:

Given q = +0.32 C. Since the charge is positive, there is deficiency of electrons.

 = 2 x 1018 electrons

Note that the electron itself is not the charge; charge is a property, like mass, of
elementary particles, such as the electrons, protons, etc.

(2) Charge is Always Associated with Mass : A charge cannot exist without mass,
though a mass can exist without charge. The particles such
as photon or neutrino have no (rest) mass. Hence, these particles can never have
a charge.
The mass of a body (slightly) increases when it acquires a negative charge (by
gaining some electrons). On the other hand, when a body acquires a positive
charge (by losing some electrons), its mass (slightly) decreases.

(3) Conservation of Charge : In an isolated system, the total charge remains

constant. In other words, charge can neither be created nor destroyed. It can be
transferred from one body to the other. Or, equal amounts of positive or negative
charges can appear or disappear. This is what happens in pair production and pair
annihilation, as shown in figure.

Note that in pair production and pair annihilation, neither mass nor energy is
conserved separately, but (mass + energy) is conserved. In pair production energy
is converted into mass, while in annihilation mass is converted into energy.
Conservation of charge holds good in all types of reactions.
For example :
Chemical Reaction :

Na+ + Cl- NaCl

Charge : (+e) + (-e) = (0)

Radioactive Decay :

n p + e- +

Neutron proton electron antineutrino

Charge : (0) = (+e) + (-e) + (0)

(4) Invariance of Charge : Numerical value of a charge is independent of the

frame of reference. It means the value of charge on a body remains the same,
whether it is stationary, or moving with a constant velocity or accelerating. In
contrast, the mass of a body depends on its speed, and it decreases with increase
in speed.

COULOMB'S LAW
The force of interaction of two stationary point charges in vacuum is directly
proportional to the product of these charges and inversely proportional to the
square of their separation,

where F is in newton, q1 and q2 in coulomb, r in metre, and k is a constant given in

SI units by
 = 9 x 109 N m2 C-2

where = 8.85 ´ 10-12 C2 N-1 m-2 and is called the permittivity of free
space (vacuum or air).

For mediums other than air or vacuum, the electrostatic force between two
charges becomes

Here , is called the absolute permittivity or permittivity of the medium,

and is the relative permittivity of the medium which is a dimensionless
constant. is also sometimes called dielectric constant, and is represented by
letter K.

The coulomb force acts along the straight line connecting the points of location of
the charges.
This force is central and spherically symmetric.

The vector form of Coulomb’s law is . The unit vector has its origin at
the source of the force.
For example, to find the force on q2, the origin of r is placed at q1 as shown in the
figure. If F is the magnitude of the force (a positive scalar), then
means a repulsion
whereas, means an attraction
Analogy with Gravitation Law
Coulomb’s law is analogous to Newton’s law of gravitation :

However, following are the important differences :

(a) Electric force between charged particles is much stronger than gravitational
force, i.e., FE >> FG. This is why when both FE and FG are present, we neglect FG
(e.g. between two electrons FG = 10-39 FE).
(b) Electric force can be attractive or repulsive. But the gravitational force
is always attractive.
(c) Electric force depends on the nature of medium between the charges, but
gravitational force does not.

Important Points Regarding Coulomb’s Law

(1) Charges are Assumed to be at Rest : When charges are in motion they also
produce and experience magnetic forces.

(2) Charges are Assumed to be on Point Particles : Coulomb’s law cannot be

directly applied to a finite charge distribution. In such a case (see figure), it is not
possible to definitely specify the separation between the charges. However, there
is an exception. When the charge is distributed uniformly over a spherical surface,
the force on a point charge outside the surface may be computed from Coulomb’s
law by treating the charge on the sphere as if it were concentrated at the centre.
Principle of Superposition

The coulomb’s law obeys the principle of superposition. It means that the force
between two particles is not affected by the presence of other charges. This
principle is used to find the net force exerted on a given charged particle by other
charged particles.
The force on a charged particle q1 due to point charges q2, q3 and q4 is the
resultant of forces due to individual point charges, i.e.,

Note that the notation represents the force on q1 due to q2.

How to Solve a Problem using Coulomb’s Law ?

(1) Decide whether the force due to a given charge is attractive or repulsive and
show it by drawing vector, pointing towards or away from the given charge,
respectively.
(2) Find the magnitude of the force using Coulomb’s law---ignoring the signs of
the charges.
(3) Resolve the forces along the given co-ordinate axes and express them in
vector form using unit vector notation, unless otherwise specified.
(4) Use the principle of superposition to find the net force on the charge.
Application 2
Four point charges are located at the corners of a rectangle, as shown in figure.
Find the net force acting on the charge q1

Application 3
Five point charges, each +q are placed on five vertices of a regular hexagon of
side L. What is the magnitude of the force on a point charge –q placed at the
centre of the hexagon ?