General Physics II

Quarter 3

Learner’s Packet

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 WEEK
Static Electricity
Lesson 1
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The American politician and scientist Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) per-
formed a dangerous experiment when he flew a kite in a thunderstorm. In this exper-
iment, Franklin demonstrated a connection between lightning and static electricity.
Sparks were drawn from a key hung on a kite string during an electrical storm.
These sparks were like those produced by static electricity, such as the spark that
jumps from your finger to a metal doorknob after you walk across a wool carpet.
In this lesson, you will learn about the electric phenomena due to charges
that are at least temporarily stationary, called electrostatics, or static electricity.
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to: describe using a diagram
charging by rubbing and charging by induction; explain the role of electron trans-fer
in electrostatic charging by rubbing; describe experiments to show electrostatic
charging by induction; calculate the net electric force on a point charge exerted by a
system of point charges; describe an electric field as a region in which an electric
charge experiences a force; calculate the electric field due to a system of point
charges using Coulomb's law and the superposition principle; and, calculate elec-tric
flux.

D
Electric charges are the physical property of an object that causes it to be
attracted toward or repelled from another charged object. Each charged object is
generated and influenced by a force called electromagnetic force. You have
learned before that the negatively charged electrons are held in their orbits by
their attraction to the positively charged protons. The sum of the number of
protons and number of neutrons makes up the Atomic weight and, the number of
protons is the atomic number.

All the macroscopic forces that we experience directly, such as the sensa-
tions of touch and the tension in a rope, are due to the electromagnetic force, one
of the four fundamental forces in nature. The gravitational force, another
fundamental force, is actually sensed through the electromagnetic interaction of
molecules, such as between those in our feet and those on the top of a bath-room
scale. (The other two fundamental forces, the strong nuclear force and the weak
nuclear force, cannot be sensed on the human scale.)
All of these follow some principles. What principle do you think applies to
Static electricity?

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Electric charge, conductors, and insulators
The fundamental quantity in electrostatics is electric charge. There are two kinds of
charge, positive and negative. Charges of the same sign repel each other; charges of opposite sign
attract. Charge is conserved; the total charge in an isolated system is constant.
All ordinary matter is made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The positive protons and
electrically neutral neutrons in the nucleus of an atom are bound together by the nuclear force;
the negative electrons surround the nucleus at distances much greater than the nuclear size.
Electric interactions are chiefly responsible for the structure of atoms, molecules, and sol-ids.
The magnitude of the electrostatic force between charges increases as their separation de-
creases.
Conductors are materials in which charge moves easily; in insulators, charge does not
move easily. Most metals are good conductors; most nonmetals are insulators.

Charging by Conduction (direct contact). When touching a negatively charged object to

a neutral object, the objects end up with the same type of charge. If the charges are equal in size,
they share the charge equally.

Charging by Induction. A positively charged rod is brought near a neutral metal sphere,
polarizing it. The sphere is grounded, allowing electrons to be attracted from the earth’s ample
supply. The ground connection is broken. The positive rod is removed, leaving the sphere with an
induced negative charge. Objects end up with opposite charge.

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Experiments in Electrostatics
(a) Negatively charged objects repel each other. (b) Positively charged objects repel each
other. (c) Positvely charged objects and negatively charged objects attract each other.

Coulomb’s Law

When dealing with charged objects, we also talk of forces between them. These forces can
be either attractive (for unlike charges) or repulsive (for like charges). The electrostatic force (also
called Coulomb Force) is defined as the amount and direction of attraction or re-pulsion between
two charged bodies.
To find the force between charged objects, we can use Coulomb’s Law, which states that
the magnitude of the electric force between two point charges is directly proportional to the
product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance be-tween them.

In this equation, “d” is the distance between the objects, q and Q are the charges on the
charged objects, and k is a constant equal to

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 This law is similar in form and structure to Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation,
and the relationships that we used last chapter still apply. For example,

q (ex: If you double the charge on an object, you double the force)

Q (ex: If you quarter the charge on an object, you quarter the force)

qQ (ex: If you double both charges, you quadruple the force)

(ex: If you double the distance between the charges, you quarter the force.

If you divide the distance between the charges by 3, you multiply the force by 9 times).

Worked Example

Answer
Step 1 : Determine what is required
We are required to find the force between two point charges given the charges and
the distance between them.
Step 2 : Determine how to approach the problem
We can use Coulomb’s Law to find the force.

Step 3 : Determine what is given

We are given:

We know that .
We can draw a diagram of the situation.

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Step 4 : Check units
All quantities are in SI units.
Step 5 : Determine the magnitude of the force

Using Coulomb’s Law we have

Thus, the magnitude of the force is . However, since both point

charges have opposite signs, the force will be attractive.

Electric field
An electric field as a region of space in which an electric charge experiences a force. The
direction of the electric field at a point is the direction that a positive test charge would move if
placed at that point. Electric field ES, a vector quantity, is the force per unit charge exerted on
a test charge at any point. The electric field produced by a point charge is di-rected radially
away from or toward the charge.

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 Arrows on the field lines indicate the direction of the field, i.e. the direction a positive
test charge would move. Electric field lines therefore point away from positive charges and
towards negative charges.
From a positive charge, the field lines go radially outwards; from a negative charge, the
field lines go radially inwards towards the charge. Radially outward means in straight lines
from the center, like spokes on a wheel. The field lines from a charge are radial lines from the
center.
Field lines are drawn closer together where the field is stronger. The electric field is
stronger closer to the charge (the electric field lines are closer together) and weaker further
from the charge (the electric field lines are further apart). The magnitude of the electric field at
a point as the force per unit charge.

E and F are vectors. From this we see that the force on a charge q is simply:
F=E*q
The force between two electric charges is given by:

Therefore, the Electric Field can be written as:

The electric field is the force per unit of charge and hence has units of Newtons per
Coulomb.
As with Coulomb’s law calculations, do not substitute the sign of the charge into the
equation for electric field. Instead, choose a positive direction, and then either add or sub-tract
the contribution to the electric field due to each charge depending upon whether it points in the
positive or negative direction, respectively.
Worked Examples
Question: A charge of 8 C experiences a force of 200 N. What is the electric field strength
present?
Answer
Step 1 : Determine what is required
We need to calculate the electric field present.
Step 2 : Determine what is given
We are given the magnitude of the charge and the force applied on it.
Step 3 : Determine how to approach the problem
We will use the equation:

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 Step 4 : Solve the problem

=
= 25N/C
Question: Calculate the electric field strength 30 cm from a 5 nC charge.

Answer
Step 1 : Determine what is required
We need to calculate the electric field a distance from a given charge.
Step 2 : Determine what is given
We are given the magnitude of the charge and the distance from the charge.
*always check the metric unit used in the problem, in this case, cm is for
“centimeter” and nC is for “nanometer”. When solving, convert to the correct
unit. Your units must be consistent with what is being asked in the problem.
Step 3 : Determine how to approach the problem
We will use the equation:

Step 4 : Solve the problem

Electric Flux
Electric flux is a measure of the “flow” of electric field through a surface. Electric flux
(Φ) is the product of the magnitude of the electric field (E) and the surface area (A) perpen-
dicular to the field.
Φ = EA
Units: N ·m2 / C

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 The electric flux is proportional to the number
of elec-tric field lines penetrating some surface.
The field lines may make some angle θ with
the per-pendicular to the surface.
Then, Φ = E A cos θ

Gauss’s Law- The total of the electric flux out of

a closed surface is equal to the charge enclosed
divided by the permittivity.

Worked Examples
Question: An 8000 N/C uniform electric field is passing perpendicular through a
flat square area. What is the electric flux?
Answer
Step 1 : Determine what is required
We need to calculate the electric flux present.
Step 2 : Determine what is given
We are given the magnitude of the electric field and area of the surface.
Step 3 : Determine how to approach the problem
We will use the equation:
Φ=EA
*even if you use Φ = E A cos θ, since the angle between the electric field
direc-tion and a line drawn a perpendicular to the area, cos 0 will be
equal to 1, so, you will still arrive at the same answer.
Step 4 : Solve the problem
= 8, 000 * 10

E
What makes plastic wrap cling? Static electricity. Not only are applications of
static electricity common these days, its existence has been known since ancient
times. The first record of its effects dates to ancient Greeks who noted more than 500
years B.C. that pol-ishing amber temporarily enabled it to attract bits of straw. The
very word electric derives from the Greek word for amber (electron).
Many of the characteristics of static electricity can be explored by rubbing
things to-gether. What do you think will happen to the materials when rubbed
together?