Lec-2

Outline
• Basic properties of charges
• Conductors
• Insulators
• Semiconductors
• Electric Field
• Electric Potential
• Examples
Charges are additive:
• The fact that the total charge on
an object is equal to the
algebraic sum of all the electric
charges distributed in that
object is known as additive
nature of charge
Conduction (read only)
Conduction is a phenomenon of transferring of energy from a charged
body to an uncharged body by direct contact.
Induction (read only)
A phenomenon that causes an uncharged body to get electrically
charged by placing it near a charged conductor is known as induction.
For induction to take place, the two bodies must be placed nearer to
each other.
 Electrical Materials of Electricity
Fundamental

All material may be classified into three major classes:

• Conductors (copper, aluminum, siliver, platinum, bronz, gold)
• Insulators (glass, rubber, plastic, air, varnish, paper, wood, mica,
ceramic, certain oils)
• Semiconductors (germanium, silicon)

© Vocational Training Council, Hong Kong EEE3404 Electrical Engineering Principles 1 9

Weeks 1 ~ 2
Induction (read only)
Conductors
• Conductors are the materials or
substances which allow electricity to
flow through them. They conduct
electricity because they allow electrons
to flow easily inside them from atom to
atom. Also, conductors allow the
transmission of heat or light from one
source to another.
• The number of electrons in conductors
is very high, in the order of 1028 free
electrons per cubic metre.
Conductor
Insulators
• An electrical insulator is a material in which
the electron does not flow freely or the
atom of the insulator have tightly bound
electrons whose internal electric charges do
not flow freely; very little electric current
will flow through it under the influence of
an electric field.
• The number of electrons in
conductors is very small, in the order
of one free electrons per cubic
metre.
Insulators
Semiconductors
• Semiconductors are materials
which have a conductivity
between conductors (generally
metals) and nonconductors or
insulators (such as most
ceramics). Semiconductors can
be pure elements, such as silicon
or germanium, or compounds
such as gallium arsenide or
cadmium selenide.
Semiconductors
Read only
Electric Field lines
The electric field lines are like map which provides
information about the direction and strength of electric
field at various places. This concept was introduced by
Faraday
• Electric potential, the amount of work needed to move a unit charge
from a reference point to a specific point against an electric field.

• The diagram shows the forces acting on a positive charge q located between two
plates, A and B, of an electric field E.
• The electric force F exerted by the field on the positive charge is F = qE; to move
the charge from plate A to plate B, an equal and opposite force (F′ = −qE) must
then be applied. The work W done in moving the
positive charge through a distance d is W = F′d = −qEd.