Electric Charge

Read about electric charge in sections 21.1 and 21.2 in your

text. You should have learned this material in your prior
academic career. If you haven’t, there is important information
you need to learn now!

There are two kinds of charge. + -

• like charges repel

• unlike charges attract
• charges can move but charge is conserved
 Coulomb’s Law

Coulomb’s law quantifies the magnitude of the electrostatic*

force.
The magnitude of the electrostatic force of attraction or
repulsion between two point charges is directly proportional to
the product of the magnitudes of charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between them
Coulomb’s law gives the force (in newtons) between charges q1
and q2 (in units of coulombs), where r12 is the distance in meters
between the charges, and k=9x109 N·m2/C2.
q1q 2
F =k 2
12 r12
*Moving charged particles also exert the Coulomb force on each other.
.
q1q 2
F =k 2
12 r12
This equation just gives the
magnitude of the force.

If a problem asks you to calculate a force, assume that means

both magnitude and direction (or else all components).

1 C2
Also, k = where 0 = 8.85 10−12 .
40 Nm 2

Remember, a vector has a magnitude and a direction.

 Electric Field Lines
Electric field lines help us visualize the electric field and predict
how charged particles would respond to the field.

http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/charges-and-fields/charges-and-fields_en.html
Electric Field Lines
 Electric Field Lines properties

• The electric field vector E is tangent to the field lines.

• The number of lines per unit area through a surface
perpendicular to the lines is proportional to the electric field
strength in that region
• The field lines begin on positive charges and end on
negative charges.

• The number of lines leaving a positive charge or

approaching a negative charge is proportional to the
magnitude of the charge.
• No two field lines can cross.
 Electric Flux

We have used electric field lines to visualize electric fields and

indicate their strength.

We are now going to count* the

number of electric field lines passing
through a surface, and use this E
count to determine the electric field.
The electric flux passing through a surface is the number of
electric field lines that pass through it.

Because electric field lines are drawn A

arbitrarily, we quantify electric flux E
like this: E=EA,

…except that…

If the surface is tilted, fewer lines cut

the surface. E


The green lines miss!

We define A to be a vector having a
magnitude equal to the area of the A
surface, in a direction normal to the 
surface. E

The “amount of surface” perpendicular
to the electric field is A cos .

Therefore, the amount of surface area effectively “cut through”

by the electric field is A cos .

AEffective = A cos  so E = EAEffective = EA cos .

Electric flux being a scalar product, is a scalar E = E  A

quantity, its SI unit is N m2 C−1
APPLICATION OF GAUSS’S LAW S
Electric Potential

Lecture 1: defined electric field by force it exerts on test charge

F = qE

Now: define electric potential V via potential energy of test

charge
U = qV Uf − Ui = q (Vf − Vi )

source charges create electric potential V, test charge q

feels the potential, this produces potential energy U

unit of electric potential: Nm/C = V (Volt)

 Definition and Really Important fact to keep straight.

U = Uf − Ui = −  Wconservative i→f This definition is

from Physics 1135.

The change in potential energy is defined as the negative of the

work done by the conservative force which is associated with
the potential energy (today, the electric force).

q1q 2 1 q1q 2
U ( r12 ) = k =
r12 4 0 r12
Electric Potential of a point charge:

U (r) 1 1 q1q 2 1 q2
V(r) = = = q1 is the test charge, q2

q1 q1 40 r12 40 r12 is the source charge

so that the electric potential of a point charge q is

1 q
V (r) = . Only valid for a

40 r point charge!

The Electron Volt

An electron volt (eV) is the energy acquired by a particle of

charge e when it moves through a potential difference of 1 volt.

U= qV

1 eV= (1.6 10-19C ) (1 V )

1 eV= 1.6 10-19 J

This is a very small amount of energy on a macroscopic scale,

but electrons in atoms typically have a few eV (10’s to 1000’s)
of energy.
 Capacitors: the basics

What is a capacitor?

• device for storing charge A

• simplest example: two parallel
E
conducting plates separated by air

V0 d V1

assortment of
capacitors
 Capacitors in circuits
symbol for capacitor (think parallel plates)

symbol for battery, or external potential

battery voltage V is actually potential difference
+ -
between the terminals
V

• when capacitor is connected to battery, charges flow onto

the plates
- Capacitor plates build
up charges +Q and -Q

conducting wires

+-
- V
• when battery is disconnected, charge remains on plates
 Capacitance

How much charge can a capacitor store?

Better question: How much charge can a capacitor store per

voltage?
Q V is really |V|, the potential
Capacitance: C= difference across the capacitor
V

capacitance C is a device property, it is always positive

unit of C: farad (F)

1 F is a large unit, most capacitors have values of C
ranging from picofarads to microfarads (pF to F).

micro 10-6, nano 10-9, pico 10-12 (Know for exam!)

Capacitance of parallel plate capacitor

electric field between two parallel charged -Q +Q

plates:
 Q E
E= = .
0 0 A
Q is magnitude of charge on either plate. V0 d V1
A
potential difference:
d d
V = V1 − V0 = − E  d = E  dx = Ed
0 0

Q Q Q 0 A
capacitance: C= = = =
V Ed  Q  d
 d
 0 A 
Parallel plate capacitance depends “only”
on geometry. -Q +Q
0 A
C= E
d

V0 d V1
A

 0 A
C=
d
use =1.

 is NOT the same as k=9x109!

 Energy Storage in Capacitors
work to charge a capacitor:
• capacitor already has charge q, voltage (difference) V
• move extra charge element dq from one plate to the other
• external work required: dW = dq V. V
+ -
dq
q +
dW = V dq = dq from q=CV
C

• start with zero charge, end up with Q: +q -q

2 Q
Q Q q q Q2
W =  dW =  dq = = .
C 2C 0 2C CV 2
U=
0 0

2
 Where does the stored energy reside?

Energy is stored in the V

1
U = C ( V )
2 + -
capacitor:
2
E
1  0 A 
 ( Ed )
A
U= 
2
C= 0 and V = Ed
d
2 d 
d
1 +Q -Q
U = ( 0 Ad ) E 2
2 area A

The “volume of the capacitor” is Volume=Ad

energy density u (energy per unit volume):
1 V
U 2 ( 0 Ad ) E 2
1
+ -
u= = = 0 E 2
Ad Ad 2 E

energy resides in the electric field d

between the plates +Q -Q

area A

1
u = 0 E 2
2