Electricity and Magnetism

Chapter One
 Coulomb’s Law
• Coulomb’s law or Coulomb’s inverse – square law is a law of
physics describing the electrostatic force ( attraction or
repulsion ) between charged particles .
• The law was first published in 1784 by French physicist
Charles Augustin De Coulomb .
• Coulomb’s law states that :
( The magnitude of the electrostatic force of interaction
between two point charges is directly proportional to the
scalar multiplication of the magnitudes of charges and
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between
them ) .
Where q1 and q2 are the magnitude of first point charge and
second point charge respectively .
r is the distance between two point charges .
And K is the proportionality constant ,it’s magnitude depends on
the units of force , charge and distance .
K = 8.98776 X 10 9 N.m2 / C2 ( in M.K.S System of units )
or
K = 1 dyne .cm2 / ( static Coulomb )2 ( in C.G.S System of units )
Where
K = 1 / 4 π Ɛ˳
 Insulators and Conductors
• Insulator is defined as any material that does not allow
electric current to pass through it , like ( plastic ,rubber , glass
and wood ) .
• Insulators like plastic and rubber are used as a covering for
electric wires .
• Conductor is defined as any material that allows electric
current to pass through it , like ( copper , aluminum , steel
and any metal ) .
• Conductive material ( metal ) is used for wires that will carry
electricity .
Thank you