PHYSICS TOPIC 5 –

ELECTRICITY AND
MAGNETISM

Study Guide
 5.1 Electric Fields KEY CONCEPTS
Electric Charge
Electric Charge can be positive or negative. Charged body can attract light objects
(like charge repel -, - & +, +), (unlike charge attract -, + & +, -)

Charge isn’t created but the charge is transferred from rubbing object to rubbed object.
Charge of electron: -1.6 x 10-19 C (Coulomb)

Transfer of electric charges

CHARGE BY FRICTION
Electrons are transferred by friction
(when 1 material rubs against
another)
Object that gains electrons
(negative) and object that loses
electrons (positive)
CHARGE BY CONTACT
Electrons are transferred by contact
(when 1 material is physically
touched with another)
Charges spread across the object
depending on the conductivity
CHARGE BY INDUCTION
Electrons are transferred without
physical contact - induction (when
electrons of 1 material moves to
another material in conducting
surface)
Ground is used to transfer charge
that allows electron movement

Material Conductivity
• Conductors – materials that easily transports electrons
• Insulators – material that doesn’t transfer charge easily and tries to capture electrons
• Semi-conductors – materials that lie between conductors and insulators

Electroscope
Electroscope – an object that’s used to detect the magnitude of electric charge on a body.
Consists of vertical metal rod and 2 gold strips of leaves

Angle of deflection of the leaves indicate the amount of charge (greater the angle, more charge)
Electroscope can be charged by conduction/induction and useful to detect sign of unknown
charge

Coulomb’s Law/Electric Force

Coulomb’s law – describes the electrostatic force between electrically charged particles. It is the
electric force between 2 point charges Units: Newtons (N)
The electric force between two point charge q1 and q2 is proportional to their product, and
inversely proportional to the square of their separation r
𝑞1𝑞2
𝐹 = 𝑘 𝑟2 (F – Electric Force, k – 8.99 x 109 Nm-2C-2, q – charge, r – separation of 2 charges)
Coulomb’s law not only works for point charge but any spherical distribution. A spherically
symmetric charge (q) acts that all of the charge is located in the center
Electric Field Strength
Test charge – a small point positive charge to test whether a space has field lines existing.
Electric Field – a region of space which any charge would experience an electric force
Field lines never cross. Strength of the E-field is proportional to the density of the field lines

Electric field strength – the electric force per unit charge experienced by a small point charge
𝐹
𝐸 = 𝑞 (E – Electric Field Strength, F – Electric Force, q – charge) Units: NC-1
𝑞
𝐸 = 𝑘 2 (E – Electric Field Strength, k – 8.99 x 109 Nm-2C-2, q – charge, r - radius) Units: NC-1
𝑟
Direction of Electric Field is usually same direction with Electric force

Electric Current
Electric Current – the time rate at which charge (q) moves past through a particular point/cross
sectional area in a circuit
𝑞
𝐼 = 𝑡 (I – electric current, q – electric charge, t - time taken) Units: A (Ampere)
𝐼 = 𝑛𝐴𝑣𝑞 (I – electric current, A – cross sectional area, n – density of electrons, v – drift speed
and q – charge)

Electrical Potential Energy/Potential Difference

Electric Potential Energy – The amount of work done in moving a test charge from 1 point to
another. 𝑊 = 𝐹𝑠 = 𝑞𝐸∆𝑥 = 𝑞𝐸(𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖) Units: Joules

Electrical potential energy decreases along the electric field lines. It is based in 0 reference point

Electrical Potential Difference – the amount of energy/work that’s done to move the test charge
from point A to point B
𝑊
∆𝑉 = 𝑞 (V – electric potential, W – Work, q – charge) Unit: Volts (V) or JC-1
Electronvolt - the work done when an elementary charge e is moved through a potential
difference V. Electronvolt conversion: 1 eV = 1.60 x 10-19 J
 5.2 Heating Effect of Electrical Current KEY CONCEPTS
Electrical Circuit
Electrical Circuit – a set of conductors and components connected by electrical voltage source
such a way that current flows
Conventional Current - Current flows from positive terminal (+) to negative terminal (-)
Electron flows in opposite direction to conventional current (negative to positive terminal)

Circuit Diagrams

Voltage, Current, Resistance

VOLTAGE
Voltage – amount of potential
energy between 2 points in a circuit
Voltmeter - Object that reads
voltage (connected in parallel)
Voltmeter reads the voltage only
the component of parallel with
Symbol: V (Units: Volts)
CURRENT
Current - the rate at which charge
(q) moves past a particular point
Ammeter - Object that reads the
current (connected in series)
Ammeter reads the current of
original circuit
Symbol: I (Units: Ampere)
RESISTANCE
Resistance – a measure of how
hard for current to flow through a
material
Resistor - Object that resists
current flow in a material
𝑉
𝑅 = 𝐼 (R – resistance, V – Voltage
and I – Current)
Symbol: R (Units: Ohms )

Resistance Types
Variable Resistors/Potentiometer - Some resistors can be made to vary their resistance by
tapping them at various places
Thermistor – temperature dependent resistors, changes the resistance in response to temperature
Light-Dependent resistors (LDR) – light dependent resistor, changes the resistance in response
intensity

Resistance also depends on the material through which the electricity is flowing.
𝐿
𝑅 = 𝜌 𝐴 (R – resistance, p – resistivity, L – Length, A – cross sectional Area)

Ohms’s Law in Graph

𝑉
𝑅 = 𝐼 (R – resistance, V – Voltage and I – Current)
A material is considered ohmic if it behaves like Ohm’s law
Resistance is constant in V-I graph
Circuit Types
SERIES PARALLEL

ITotal = I1 = I2 Itotal = I1 + I2
Vtotal = V1 + V2 VTotal = V1 = V2

Rtotal = R1 + R2 1 1
RTotal = R + R
1 2

Potential Divider
Potential Divider - circuit made of two (or more) series resistors that allows us to tap off any
voltage we want.
Input voltage is the emf of battery. Output voltage is the voltage drop, it may be less than
battery’s voltage
𝑅2
𝑃𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟: 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑉𝑖𝑛[𝑅1+𝑅2] (V – voltage, R – resistor)

Electrical Power/Energy
Electrical Work - work done by the electric current
Electrical Power - the rate at which electrical work is being done. It
represents energy per unit time consumed by an electrical appliance

𝑉2
𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟: 𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼, 𝑃 = 𝐼 2 𝑅, 𝑃 = (I – Current, V – Voltage, R – resistance)
𝑅
(Units: Watts or KWh)

Kirchhoff’s Law
▪ Junction - a point in a circuit where three or more wires are connected together.
▪ Branch - all the wire and all the components connecting one junction to another.
▪ Loop - all the wire and all the components in a complete circle.

Kirchhoff Law of current – Sum of current IN is equal to sum of current OUT (Σ𝐼 = 0)
It is based on conservation of charge that the sum of the currents at each junction is zero.

Kirchhoff Law of voltage – Sum of Voltage around the loop is equal to sum of potential
difference in closed circuit (Σ𝑉 = 0)
It is based on conservation of energy that the sum of the voltages in each loop is zero.
 5.3 Electric Cells KEY CONCEPTS
Electric Cells
Electric Cell – container of weak acids and 2 electrodes. It uses chemical reactions to convert
chemical energy to electrical energy
Electrolyte – a conducting material that is composed up of non-metallic components

Conventional current - Electron charges flow from positive terminal to negative terminal
(cathode to anode)
PRIMARY CELL SECONDARY CELL
Cells that are only 1 time use (can’t be recharged again) Cells that can be recharges again by applying external
Eg. Batteries voltage/power source (reversing chemical reaction)
Eg. Phone batteries that can be charged again

Discharge – the flow of electric charge from 1 body to

another that releases electricity
Battery is like an engine that consumes chemical energy and moves charges from low to high
potential within the cell

Electromotive Force (EMF)

Electromotive force (EMF) – the amount of chemical energy converted to electrical energy per
unit charge. It is the electrical energy that supplies to the electrical circuit. Units: V (Volts)
Terminal Potential Difference – the potential difference at the battery’s terminal cells that
connect to external voltage source

A typical battery cell has the EMF of 1.5 V

Internal/External Voltage
If we connect a resistor in an external circuit, the voltage read by the meter goes down a little bit.
The cell is loaded as there’s a resistor connected externally in a circuit

EMF: 1.5 V, External Voltage supplied: 1.4 V, internal voltage: 0.1 V (lost upon electrical
circuit)

EMF Formula: 𝜀 = 𝐼(𝑅 + 𝑟),  - EMF, I – Current, R, External Resistance, r – internal

resistance)

Internal Resistance
Internal resistance (r) – a small resistor/resistance associated with a cell
or a battery which causes the cell’s voltage to drop when connected to
external circuit.
Reading may be less than original voltage.

Cell Capacity
Cell Capacity - the amount of charge it can deliver to an external circuit in its lifetime
The bigger the current, the faster the cell discharge (sudden drop at the beginning and the end).
This is due to increase in internal resistance
 5.4 Magnetic Fields KEY CONCEPTS
Magnetic Force
Magnetism - properties that attract iron, cobalt, nickel, and other substances
Magnetic Force – they are metallic bars that have north and south poles:
(Like poles repel N - N & S - S), (unlike charge attract N – S & S - N)

Magnetic Fields
Magnetic Field – field lines which the magnets align themselves. Symbol: B, Unit: T (Tesla)
Magnetic Field are not real, fields never cross and it’s in a complete circle.

It also exists in earth and surrounded by magnetic fields. North geographic pole is actually a
south magnetic pole. (Field lines go from north pole to south pole or go from south geographic
pole to north geographic pole)

Strength of the B-field is proportional to the density of the field lines

Magnetic Field on current wires

Hans Christian Oersted a scientist discovered that the compass needle is deflected when the
current is created. Current in the wire produces a magnetic effect

Magnetic field lines do not originate on the wire. They encircle it. They have no beginning, and
no end.

Right Hand Rule (Current)

STRAIGHT WIRE LOOP SOLENIOD
Thumb points the direction of current Thumb point the direction of current Solenoid – series of loops stretched
around the wire
Fingers wrapping is the direction of Fingers wrapping is the direction of B-Field inside the solenoid is stronger
B-Field B-Field
Thumb points the direction of B-field
(north pole)

Fingers wrapping is the direction of

current
 Magnetic Force on wire/Left Hand Rule
A wire with no current feels no magnetic force. A wire with a current will be deflected by a
magnetic force.

Magnitude of the magnetic force 𝐹 = 𝐵𝐼𝐿𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 (F – Magnetic Force, B – Magnetic Field,

I – Current, L – Length) Unit: N (Newtons)
Left Hand Rule (Wire)

Thumb points direction of magnetic force (F)

Index Finger points direction of B-Field (B) F, B and I are perpendicular
to each other
Middle Finger points direction of current (I)

• 2 Wires that has same current direction = wires will be attracted and pulled together
• 2 wires that has opposite current direction = wires will repel and pulled apart

Magnetic Force on moving charge/Right Hand rule

Moving charge produces a magnetic field and feels magnetic force. A stationary charge in a
magnetic field will feel no magnetic force as there’s no magnetic field

Magnitude of moving charge: 𝐹 = 𝑞𝑣𝐵𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 (F – Magnetic Force, q – moving charge,

v – velocity, B – Magnetic Field) Unit: N (Newtons)
Positive charge is same direction as moving direction. Negative charge is opposite to moving
direction.
Right Hand Rule (Moving Charge)

Thumb points direction of magnetic force (F)

Index finger points direction of charge’s velocity (v) F, v and B are perpendicular
to each other
Middle Finger points direction of B-field (B)

• F and v are perpendicular (it has constant velocity but changing velocity direction). The
charge follows circular motion for a certain period
• Direction of F is to the center (Magnetic force acts as centripetal force)

𝑚𝑣 2 𝑚𝑣 2
𝐹 = 𝑟 𝑠𝑜 𝑞𝑣𝐵 = 𝑟 (F – Magnetic Force, m – mass, v – velocity of
charge, r – radius, B – Magnetic Field)