Lecture 1

Electrostatics

Dr Sohail Amjad
 Outline

Introduction to electromagnetism and electrostatics

Electric Charge and the Structure of Matter
Conductors, Insulators, and Induced Charges
Coulomb’s Law

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Introduction to electromagnetism and electrostatics

Electromagnetic interactions involve particles that have a property

called electric charge, an attribute that is as fundamental as mass.
Just as the massive objects are accelerated under the influence of
gravitational force, the charged objects are accelerated under the
effect of electromagnetic force.
An electron circulating around a nucleus carries an electric charge
(−ve), similary a proton carries a (+ve) charge. These notations are
arbitrary.

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Introduction to electromagnetism and electrostatics

Electric charge is quantized and conserved. The algebraic sum of all

the electric charges in any closed system is constant
Electrostatics is the study of charges at rest. The charges should be
at rest in relative inertial frames.
Charges in vicinity of each other exert force on each other. The
direction of force depends on the nature of charge, i,e. like charges
repel each other and opposite charges attract.

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 Electric Charge and structure of matter

The structure of atoms can

be described in terms of
three particles:
the negatively charged
electron,
the positively charged
proton,
and the uncharged neutron.
The proton (uud) and
neutron (udd) are
combinations of other
entities called quarks, which
have charges of ± 32 and ± 13
times the electron charge.
These quarks are called up
(u) and down (d) quarks.

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 Electric Charge and structure of matter

The protons and neutrons in an atom make up a small, very dense

core called the nucleus, with dimensions of the order of 10−15 m.
Surrounding the nucleus are the electrons, extending out to
distances of the order of 10−10 m.
me ≃ 10−31 kg, mp,n ≃ 10−27 kg,
|qe | = |qp | = 1.6 × 10−19 C [Learn the exact values]
Q: How are the protons held together in Nucleus?

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 Conductors, Insulators, and Induced Charges
Some materials permit electric charge to move easily from one region
of the material to another. These materials are called Conductors.
An example is Copper. Metals are generally good conductors.
Others materials do not support the flow of charge from one point
to another. These are called insulators. Examples include wood,
rubber, etc.
A charged body can induce the charge of opposite sign on another
object. This is called induction.

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 The Question

What holds the protons in a nucleus together?

Strong Nuclear Force - Which is stronger than the electromagnetic
force?

But How to compute the Electromagnetic force???

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The Forces

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 Coulomb’s law

“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 between them"

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 Coulomb’s law - Problem

Given that an α particle has mass m = 6.64 × 10−27 kg and a charge

q = +2e = 3.2 × 10−19 C, and two α particles attract each other
gravitationally, while they repel electrically, what kind of force will be
stronger and why? What does the order of magnitude difference between
two forces tell you? (G = 6.64 × 10−11 N.m2 /kg 2 )

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Coulomb’s law - Problem (Solution)

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 Coulomb’s law - Superposition of Forces

The above application of the Coulomb’s law holds for the interaction
of two point charges.
When two charges exert forces simultaneously on a third charge, the
total force acting on that charge is the vector sum of the forces.
This is called the principle of superposition of forces and holds
for any number of charges.
By using this principle, we can apply Coulomb’s law to any collection
of charges.

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Coulomb’s law - Problem

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Coulomb’s law - Problem

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Coulomb’s law - Problem

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Coulomb’s law - Problem

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Coulomb’s law - Problem

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Coulomb’s law - Problem

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Coulomb’s law - Problem

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 The Question

How far the effect (force) of a charge can be seen/felt?

Depends on the distance (∝ 1/r2 )

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 Electric Field
The region surrounding a source charge, to
which its force effects other charged
objects/particles is called it’s Electric
Field.
This essentially is a measure of Force on a
⃗ = F⃗0 /q0 . [Test
unit test charge i,e. E
charge is always to be taken positive].
It’s a vector quantity and the direction of
the force on test charge, determines the
direction of Field. It’s S.I units are N/C.
The electric force experienced by a test
⃗ can be
charge q0 in an electric field E
written as: F⃗0 = q0 E
⃗

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 Electric Field Calculation

The Magnitude of force on a test charge q0 due to a source charge q

can be determined using the Coulomb’s law as:
F = k |qq 0|
r 2 Where k is the constant.
Using the expression for the electric field E = F/q0 we can
determine that E = k |q|r2 .
⃗
Electric field E is a vector. Using the unit vector for direction as
portrayed above we can write
⃗ = k q2 r̂
E r

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 Electric Field

⃗ can vary from point to point, it is not a single

E
vector quantity but rather an infinite set of vector
quantities, one associated with each point in
space. This is an example of a vector field.
In some situations the magnitude and direction of
the field (and hence its vector components) have
the same values everywhere throughout a certain
region; we then say that the field is uniform in
this region.
If there is an electric field within a conductor, the
field exerts a force on every charge in the
conductor, giving the free charges a net motion.
By definition an electrostatic situation is one in
which the charges have no net motion. We
conclude that in electrostatics the electric field
at every point within the material of conductor
must be zero.
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 Electric Field - Problem

⃗ at a field point 2.0 m

Q: What is the magnitude of the electric field E
from a point charge q = 4.0 nC?

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 Electric Field - Problem

⃗ at a field point 2.0 m

Q: What is the magnitude of the electric field E
from a point charge q = 4.0 nC?

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 Electric Field - Problem

Q: A point charge q = −8.0nC is located at the origin. Find the

electric-field vector at the field point x = 1.2m, y = −1.6m.

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 Electric Field - Problem
Q: A point charge q = −8.0 nC is located at the origin. Find the
electric-field vector at the field point x = 1.2m, y = −1.6m.

⃗ = (−11N/C)î + (14N/C)ĵ
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 Principle of Superposition of Electric Fields

Take a charge distribution of many point charges

q1 , q2 , q3 , .... At any given point P each point
charge produces its own electric field
⃗ 1, E
E ⃗ 2, E⃗ 3 , ....
A test charge q0 placed at P experiences a force
from charge a force from each
charge(F⃗1 = q0 E
⃗ 1 , F⃗2 = q0 E
⃗ 2 , F⃗3 = q0 E
⃗ 3 , ...).
The principle of superposition of forces states
that the total force F⃗0 is sum of these individual
forces:
F⃗0 = F⃗1 + F⃗3 + F⃗3 +... = q0 E
⃗ 1 +q0 E
⃗ 2 +q0 E
⃗ 3 +...
The combined effect of all the charges in the
distribution is described by the total electric field
at point . From the definition of electric field,
this is
⃗ = F⃗0 = E
E ⃗1 + E⃗2 + E⃗ 3 + ..... This is called The
q0
principle of superposition of electric fields
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 Home Work (not assignment)

Solve the examples 21.7 to 21.12 of the of University Physics.

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