CSC 1107 Applied Physics

Dr. Inam-ur-Rehman

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What is Charge

Electric charge is an intrinsic property of the fundamental particles that make up all the objects. If a
neutral object loses electrons, it becomes more positively charged. If a neutral object gains electrons, it
becomes more negatively charged.

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Electric Charge (Two demonstrations)
• Two Types
• Particles with the same sign of electrical charge repel
each other, and particles with opposite signs attract each Repulsive force
other
• Extra charge is said to be an excess charge
• Charging and discharging does not happen in humid
conditions because the water in the air neutralizes our
excess charge about as fast as we acquire it
Attractive force

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Conductors, Insulators, Semiconductors and
Superconductors
• Conductors are materials through which charge can move rather freely; examples include metals , the human
body, and tap water.
• Nonconductors—also called insulators—are materials through which charge cannot move freely; examples
include rubber, plastic, glass, and chemically pure water.
• Semiconductors are materials that are intermediate between conductors and insulators; examples include
silicon and germanium in computer chips.
• Superconductors are materials that are perfect conductors, allowing charge to move without any hindrance
• Induced Charge

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 Coulomb’s Law – Coulomb’s law describes the electrostatic
force between two charged particles.

k = Coulomb’s Constant
q1 = charge on particle 1 • If q1 and q2 have the same sign, then the product q1q2 gives us a positive result. So, the force on particle 1 is in the direction of r .
If q1 and q2 have opposite signs, the product q1q2 gives us a negative result. So, the force on particle 1 is in the direction opposite
q2 = charge on particle 2 .

r = the distance between the two charge particles

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Two charges are separated by a distance r and have a force F on
each other. qq
F k 1 2
2
r
F q2 F
q1
r

If r is doubled then F is : ¼ of F

If q1 is doubled then F is : 2F

If q1 and q2 are doubled and r is halved then F is : 16F

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Multiple Forces

• The electrostatic force obeys the principle of superposition. Suppose we have n charged particles near a
chosen particle called particle 1; then the net force on particle 1 is given by the vector sum in which, for
example, is the force on particle 1 due to the presence of particle 4.

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Sample Problem 21.01

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Sample Problem 21.02

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Sample Problem 21.03 Charge sharing by two
identical conducting spheres
Home work

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 q q

q/2 q

q/2 3q/4 q/2 3q/4

3q/4

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Inserting the values for m1 and a1

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Net force on q3

Using conditions

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 CHARGE IS QUANTIZED
Any positive or negative charge q that can be detected can be written as

When a physical quantity such as charge can have only discrete values rather than any value, we say that
the quantity is quantized. It is possible, for example, to find a particle that has no charge at all or a charge of
"10e or -6e, but not a particle with a charge of, say, 3.57e.

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CHARGE IS CONSERVED
The net electric charge of any isolated system is always conserved. Examples

HOME WORK : Summary & Review of ch.21

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(a)

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Solution

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• EXTRA PROBLEMS Practice

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 Comparison of Electrostatic force with Gravitational pull force
Two 0.5 Kg spheres are places 25cm apart. Each sphere has a charge
100µC, one of them is positive and other is negative. Calculate the
electrostatic force between them and compare it to their weight?

𝑘 |𝑞1 | |𝑞2 |
Coulomb’s Law: 𝐹 = 𝑘 = 9 × 109 𝑁 𝑚2 𝐶 −2
𝑟2

|𝑞1 | = |𝑞2 | = 100 𝜇𝐶 = 100 × 10−6 𝐶 = 10−4 𝐶

𝑟 = 25 𝑐𝑚 = 0.25 𝑚

9 × 109 × 10−4 × 10−4

𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 = 2
= 1440 𝑁
0.25
𝐹𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 = 𝑚𝑔 = 0.5 × 9.8 = 4.9 𝑁
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Example 2
Two 40 gram masses each with a charge of 3μC are placed
50cm apart. Compare the gravitational force between the two
masses to the electric force between the two masses. (Ignore
the force of the earth on the two masses)

3μC 3μC
40g 40g

50cm

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 m1m2
Fg  G 2
r
(.04)(.04) 13
 6.67 10 11
2
 4.27 10 N
(0.5)

q1q2
FE  k 2
r
6 6
(3  10 )(3  10 )
 9.0 10 9
 0.324N
(0.5) 2
The electric force is much greater than the gravitational
force
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Example#3

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•Example#4

Two point charges q1 = +25nC and q2 = -75nC

are separated by a distance of r = 3.0 cm. Find
the electrostatic force between the charges?

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Electrostatic Force

Gravitational Force:

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Net Force on q3 :

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Two very small 8.55-g spheres, 15.0 cm apart from center to center, are
charged by adding equal number of electrons to each of them.
Disregarding all other forces, how many electrons would you have to
add to each sphere so that the two spheres will accelerate at 25g m/s2
when released?

Number of Electrons (N) :

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Here q3 = 5nC ,r23 = 4cm, q2 = -3nC, r13 = 2cm , q1 = ?
• Condition net force on q3 is zero due to q1 and q2
• F23 = F13
• kq2q3/(r23)^2 = kq1q3/(r13)^2
• q1 = q2 x (r13)^2 /(r23)^2

q1 = 0.75 nC
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