Repeaters 2021-NEET(Module-I)

CHAPTER - 03
ELECTROSTATICS

SYNOPSIS
Electrostatics is the branch of physics which deals with electric charges at rest. There are two types of
charges +ve and –ve. Like charges repell and unlike charges attract. Unit of charge is coulomb (C) in
SI. In C.G.S the unit is stat coulomb or electrostatic unit of charge (esu of charge)
Electrification by friction
When two substances are rubbed together, electrons are transferred from one body to the other. The
transfer of electrons takes place from the material in which electrons are held less tightly to the nucleus
to the materials where electrons are held more tightly. The substance which loses electrons become
+ve and the one which gains electrons become –vely charged
Properties of charges
1. Quantization
2. Additive property
3. Charge conservation
4. Speed independence
Difference between mass and charge
1. Charge can be +ve, –ve or zero, but mass is always +ve
2. Charge is quantized. Mass is not strictly quantized
3. Charge is independent of speed. Mass increases with speed as

m0
m
v2 m0– rest mass
1
c2
m – mass when moving with a velocity v
c – velocity of light
Similarities between gravitational and electrostatic field
Both are
1. Central forces 2. Conservative
3. Inverse square law forces 4. Long range forces
5. Two body interaction
Difference
Electrostatic force Gravitational force
1. May be attractive or repulsive Always attractive
2. Affected by the medium Not affected by the medium

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3. Of strong magnitude Of weak magnitude

Note that the electrostatic force between the electron and proton is 1038 times as large as the gravitational
force between them for equal distance of separation
Coulomb’s law
The force of attraction or repulsion between two charges q1 and q2 is directly proportional to the product
of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them

q1q 2 1 q1q 2
F 2
F
r 40 r 2

1 9 2 2
 0 is the absolute permittivity of free space (air or vacuum) 4  9  10 Nm C
0

1 q1q 2
When the charges are kept in a medium other than air or vacuum, F  4  r 2
0 r

 r is the relative permittivity or dielectric constant of the medium. 0r  is the absolute permittivity of
the medium

Fair
r
Fmedium
The force between two charges will be reduced to zero if a metal plate is introduced between them. For
metals r  

0  8.854  1012 C2 N 1m 2

Principle of superposition
When a number of charges are interacting, the total force on a given charge is the vector sum of the
individual forces exerted on the given charge by all the other charges.
Electricfield
The space surrounding a charge where another charge experiences a force is known as an electric

 
field. The intensity of the electric field E at a point is the force experienced by a unit +ve charge (+1C)
placed at that point. The magnitude of the intensity of the electric field at a point P due to a point charge
is given by

1 q
E
40 r 2
where r is the distance of the point from the point charge. The force experienced by a charge of q

coulomb placed in an electric field strength E is given by
 
F  qE

 qE
Acceleration of a charged particle in an electricfield a 
m

Unit of E is NC–1 or Vm–1
[E] = [I–1 MLT–3]
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 Repeaters 2021-NEET(Module-I)

Properties of electric lines of force

1. Electric lines start from a +ve charge and ends on a –ve charge
2. Electric lines do not intersect each other
3. The tangent at any point on the electric line gives the direction of the electric field at that point
4. The number of lines of force passing normally through unit area taken around a point gives the
intensity of the electricfield at that point. It is also known as the electric flux density.
5. In a uniform electric field electric lines are parallel and equidistant from each other
6. Lines of force always start normal to a surface and end normal to a surface
Electric dipole

Two equal and opposite charges separated by a small vector distance form an electric dipole. The
length of the dipole is a vector quantity. Its direction is from the –ve to the +ve charge. The length AB of

the dipole is represented by 2a .

Electric dipole moment P
It is the product of one of the charges and the distance between the charges.

(length of the dipole is 2a )
 
P  q  2a
It is a vector quantity. Its direction is from –ve to +ve charge
Intensity of the electric field at a point on the axial line

1 2Pr
E
4 0  r 2  a 2 2 . If a<< r(ie short dipole)

1 2P
E
40 r 3
Intensity of the electric field at a point on the equational line

1 P 1 P
E
4 0  r  a 2 3/2 ; If a<<r, E  4 r 3
2
0

For a short dipole Eaxial =2 E equatorial

The direction of the electric field is antiparallel to the direction of the length of the dipole

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Null point
A null point in an electric field is the point where the resultant field is zero
a) when two like charge are separated by a distance the null point will be:
(1) on the line joining the charges
(2) in between the charges
(3) nearer to the smaller charge
q1 q 2
Also, r 2  r 2 where r1 and r2 are the distance of the null point from q1 and q2
1 2

If q1 =q2 null point will be at the centre

(b) When two unlike charge are separated by a distance the null point will be
(1) on the line joining the charges
(2) outside the charges
(3) nearer to the smaller charge
q1 q 2
Also, r 2  r 2 where r1 and r2 are the distance of the null point from the charges. If q1= q2 there will be
1 2

no null point.
Torque acting on an electric dipole placed in a uniform electric field

  
Torque   PE sin  ie   P  E
(i) When the dipole is in stable equilibrium,  = 180o,  = PE sin 180o = 0
(ii) When the dipole is perpendicular to the field,   PE sin90 = PE
This is the maximum torque.
(iii) When the dipole is in unstable equillibrium
 = 180o,  = PE sin 180o = 0
 
In stable equilibrium, E is parallel to P
 
In unstable equilibrium, E is antiparallel to P
Work done in rotating a dipole from 1 to 2 in a uniform electric field. (Potential energy of an electric
dipole placed in a uniform electric field)
W= pE  cos 1  cos 2 
 1 - initial
 2 - final
If 1 = 900 and 2   , W = –pE cos 

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 Repeaters 2021-NEET(Module-I)

Electric potential : V at a point in an electricfield is the amount of work done in bringing a unit +ve charge
(+1C) from infinity to that point against the direction of the field
r
  W
V    E . dr V is a scalar quantity V  –1

q . Unit of V is JC (volt)
[V] = I–1 ML2 T–3
Potential difference between two points in an electric field is the amount of work done to bring a unit +ve
charge from one point to the other against the direction of the field
dV = VB – VA
Equipotential surface is the surface over which the electric potential remains the same
On an equipotential surface the p.d between any two points is zero. Hence no work is done in moving a
test charge on an equipotential surface
The electric field (ie, electric lines) are perpendicular to an equipotential surface
dv
Potential gradient is the rate of change of potential w.r.t distance, ie . It is a vector quantity
dr

dV
Electric field E 
dr
In a constant electric field E  r = V
Unit of electric field is Vm–1
Unit of potential gradient also is Vm–1
Potential at a point due to a point charge is
1 q
V
40 r
Potential due to a large number of charges q1, q2, ...... is,
1 q1 1 q2
V  
40 r1 40 r
Potential due to a uniformly charged conducting spherical shell (or a conducting solid sphere) of
radius R:
1. Potential at any point outside the shell at a distance r from the centre
1 q
V
40 r

1 q
2. On the surface of the shell, V 
40 R

1 q
3. Inside the shell, V  4 R
0

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Electric potential due to an electric dipole (short dipole)

1. At any point,

1 p cos 
V
40 r 2

1 p
2. Vaxial = 4 r 2
0

3. Vequitorial = 0
Potential energy of a system of two charges
1 q1q 2
U
40 r
Potential energy = Potential  charge
Potential energy of system of three charges
U = U12 + U23 + U13

1  q1q 2 q 2 q 3 q1q3 
= 4  r  r  r 
0  12 23 13 

Electric flux (  ) through an area (surface) in an electric field is the number of lines of force passing
  
normally through the area. Flux through an area ds is given by d  E.ds ie, d  Eds cos 
Flux is a scalar quantity. Note that the direction of area is normal to the area taken
1
Gauss’s theorem : The total electric flux through any closed surface enclosing a charge is equal to 
0

times the total charge enclosed by the surface

  1
   E .ds  .q
0
Applications
1 q
1. Electric field due to a point charge = 4 r 2
0

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 Repeaters 2021-NEET(Module-I)

2. Electric field due to an infinitely long line charge,


E
20 r
3. Electric field due to an infinite thin plane sheet of charge

E
2 0
4. Electric field due to two infinite parallel sheets of charge with equal but opposite charge densities,
(i) outside the sheets = 0

(ii) in between the sheets = 
0

5. Electric field due to a charged nonconducting solid sphere of radius R:

1 q
(i) outside the sphere (r > R) E
40 r 2

1 q
(ii) on the sphere (r = R) E
40 R 2

1 q
(iii) inside the sphere (r < R) E r
40 R 3

6. Electricfield due to a charged conducting shell (or conducting sphere) of radius R

1 q
(i) outside the shell (r > r), E  4 r 2
0

1 q
(ii) on the sphere (r = R), E 
4 0 R 2

(iii) inside the sphere (r < R) E = 0

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Electrostatic shielding is the vanishing of the electric field inside a conducting cavity
Capacitor or condenser
It is a device for storing large amount of electric charges. Charge stored in a capacitor, q = CV
C – capacitance or capacity
q
C  unit is CV–1 (Farad)
V
Parallel plate capacitor

0 A
(i) Air capacitor, Capacitance C =
d

E
0
V=E  d
(ii) Capacitor with a dielectric,
0 KA
C 
d
ie C = C  K K is the dielectric constant


E  For metals K = 
0 K
For vacuum K =1
V  E  d For Air K = 1.00059
1
Combination of capacitors
(i) Parallel

Potential difference across all the condensers will be the same, but charge will be different
q1 = C1V, q2 = C2V, q3 = C3V
Effective capacitance, Ceff = C1 + C2 + C3

(ii) Series

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Potential difference on different capacitors will be different, but the charge will be the same
q q q
V1  , V2  , V3 
C1 C2 C3
The effective capacitance Ceff is
1 1 1 1
  
Ceff C1 C2 C3
Energy of a charged capacitor is the amount of work done in charging the capacitor
1 1 Q2
U  CV 2 U  QV U
2 2 2C
Van de Graff Generator
It is used for accelerating charged particles
Principle
(i) Corona discharge (action of sharp points)
(ii) Charge given to the a hollow conducting sphere will be transferred to the outer surface of the sphere
V
The minimum radius of spherical shell R  where E is the dielectric strength of the surrounding gas.
E
Dielectric strength is defined as the maximum electric field that can be applied to a dielectric without its
breakdown
Molecule as a dipole
If the +ve charge centre doesn’t coincide with the –ve charge centre, the molecule will have a dipole
moment. Such molecules are called polar molecules.
In non-polar molecules, the +ve and –ve charge centers coincide
Motion of a charged particle in an electric field
(i) A charged particle moving along the direction of the electric field
qE
A +ve charged particle will move along the direction of the field with an acceleration of
m
A –ve charged particle will move more along the direction of the field with a deceleration of qE/m
Velocity after t seconds v = u + at
(ii) A charged particle entering perpendicular to a uniform electric field

The path of the charged particle inside the electricfield is a parabola. Let t be the time spent by the
particle inside the field. Initial velocity vx is in the X – direction. Velocity acquired in the Y-direction is vy. Sy
is the displacement in the Y-direction. Sx is displacement in the X-direction within the field. Then
vy = uy + at But uy = 0  vy = at
1 2
Sy = u r + 1 at
2 But uy = 0  Sy = at
2 2
S x = vx t

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