Electric Charge, Coulomb’s Law,

Electric Flux
Electric Fields, Electric Flux
 The electric field multiplied by the area of the
surface projected in a plane and perpendicular
to the field.
DEFINITION OF TERMS Gauss Law
 States that the total electric flux out of a
Electric Charge
closed surface is equal to the charge enclosed
 Fundamental physical property of matter divided by the permittivity.
 Causes objects to feel an attractive or
repulsive force towards one another.  ELECTRIC CHARGE
Electric charge is quantized, meaning that charge
Conductors
can only have discrete values. An elementary charge
 Materials that permit electrons to flow freely (e) approximately equals 1.602•10-19 C.
from particle to particle.  Protons: +
Insulators  Electrons: –
 Materials that impede the free flow of  Unit: Coulomb (C)
electrons from atom to atom and molecule to Take note:
molecule  Like Charges:
Coulomb
 Unlike Ch arges:
 Unit of charge.
CONDUCTORS INSULATORS
 Defined as the number of electrons passing
through a current of 1 Amp each second: C= Permits charges to Prevents flow of
A•s. transfer across the electric current
Coulomb’s Law entire surface of an
object
 The electrical force between two charged Low resistance High Resistance
object is directly proportional to the product Contains large number Do not have free
of the quantity of charge on the object and of free electrons electrons
inversely proportional to the square of the High thermal Low thermal
distances between the two charges. conductivity conductivity
Electrostatic Equilibrium Electrical field is Electrical field is not
present only on the present
 When excess charge is placed on a conductor
surface
or the conductor is put into a static electric
Examples: Copper, Examples: Plastic,
field, charges in the conductor quickly respond
Aluminum, Iron, Wood, Rubber, Dry Air,
to reach a steady state.
Silver, Gold, Glass, Ceramic, Teflon,
Faraday’s Cage
Graphite, Water, Quartz, Asphalt,
 An enclosure made of a conducting metal. Platinum Porcelain
Induced Charges
 A method used to charge an object without
actually touching the object to any other
charged object. INDUCED CHARGING
Electric Force We can charge conducting bodies without even
 Attractive force between the electrons and touching them. The conduction electrons in the
the nucleus. conductor are able to move with nearly complete
 Now, a positive charge or a negative charge
creates a field in the empty space around it,
and we call that empty space an electric field.
Electric Field
 Defined as the electric force per unit charge.
 The direction of the field is taken to be the
direction of the force it would exert on a
positive test charge.
freedom.

FORMULAS

Coulumb’s Law o F= Electric Force (N)

o k= Coulomb Constant ≈ 9
ELECTRIC FORCE AND FIELD x 109 Nm2/C2
o q1= charge 1 (Coulomb [C])
 An electric field is a space around a charged
o q2= charge 2 (Coulomb
particle where the particle exerts electric [C])
force on other charged particles. o r= Distance of separation
 Because of their force fields, charged particles (m)
can exert force on each other without actually Electric Field
touching.
 Electric fields are generally represented by o E= Electric Field
arrows. o F= Force (N)
o q= charge (C)
 The arrows show the direction of electric force
o V=Voltage(V)
around a positive particle and a negative
o d= Distance (m)
particle. 
Motion of Charged
Particle in Electric o a= Acceleration (m/s2)
Field o m= Mass (kg)
o q= Charge
o E= Electric field
o v= velocity of charged
particle after time t if
initial velocity is zero
(m/s)
o s = distance travelled by
charge particles if initial
ELECTRIC FLUX velocity is zero (m)

 Property of an electric field that may be

thought of as the number of electric lines of Work Done in o W = work (J)
force (or electric field lines) that intersect a Uniform Electric o q = charge (C)
given area. Fields o E = electric field (N/C)
 Electric field lines are considered to originate o d = distance between
on positive electric charges and to terminate on points parallel to field
(m)
negative charges.
o V= voltage (V)
 The electric field is analogous to the liquid flow
in the case shown above. The quantity we will o Φ= Electric Flux
Electric Flux
deal with here is not an observable quantity as o E= magnitude of electric
the liquid we considered above. field
 Let us understand this with the help of the o A= area of the surface
figure below. Here, we see that the electric through which electric
field lines of magnitude E pass through a plane flux is to be calculated
of area A that is kept at an angle θ to the o Θ= angle made by the
plane and the axis parallel
direction of the electric field.
to the direction of the
flow of electric field
Gauss Law o Φ= Electric Flux
o Q= Total Charge within
the given surface
 o ϵ0= Electric Constant a= (1.602 × 10-19)(1.5 × 10-5) / 9.109 × 10-31
a =2.64 106 m/s2 (in the opposite direction to
the electric field) 

3. Two point charges q1=8μC; q2=-5μC are separated

by a distance of 10cm. What is the Magnitude of
the electric force?
Given:
q1=8μC = 8 x 10-6C
q2=-5μC = -5 x 10-6C
r= 10cm = 0.1 m
k= 9 x 109 Nm2/C2
Find: F
Solution:

dv

4. A uniform electric field of magnitude E=100M/C

exists in the space in the X-direction. Using the
Gauss Theorem, calculate the flux of this field
through a plane square area of edge 10cm placed in
the Y-Z plane. Take the normal along the positive X-
axis to be positive.

5. A large plane charge sheet having surface

charge density lies in the X-Y
plane. Find the flux of the electric field through a
circular area or radius 1cm lying completely in the
region where x, y, and z are all positive and with its
SAMPLE PROBLEMS normal, making an angle of 60 degrees with the Z-
axis.

1. A force of 5 N is acting on the charge 6 μ C at

any point. Determine the electric field intensity at
that point.
Given: F=5N, q=6μC
Find: E
Solution:
E=F/q
E= 5/610-6C
E = 8.33 105N/C

2. What acceleration would an electron experience

if it was travelling in an electric field of strength
1.5 × 10-5 N/C?
(qe = -1.602 × 10-19 C and me= 9.109 × 10-31 kg)
Find: a
Solution:
a = qE/m