Electric Field

Dr. Nermeen Serag PHYS202-SS15 1

Electric charges

•Objects can be charged (q) and exert forces on each other.

•Forces can be attractive or distractive, so there must be two

types of charges: positive and negative.

•Charges with the same sign repel, with different signs attract.

•The electric charge in an isolated system is conserved, but

charges may be re-arranged, distributed, transferred.

•Materials can be conductors or insulators

•Charges occur only in discrete amounts = “quantized”

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Quantization of Electric Charges
The electric charge, q, is said to be quantized.
 q is the standard symbol used for charge as a variable.
 Electric charge exists as discrete packets.
 q = Ne
 N is an integer
 e is the fundamental unit of charge
 |e| = 1.6 x 10-19 C
 Electron: q = -e
 Proton: q = +e

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Conductors
Electrical conductors are materials in which some of
the electrons are free electrons.
 Free electrons are not bound to the atoms.
 These electrons can move relatively freely through the
material.
 Examples of good conductors include copper, aluminum
and silver.
 When a good conductor is charged in a small region, the
charge readily distributes itself over the entire surface of
the material.

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Insulators
Electrical insulators are materials in which all of the
electrons are bound to atoms.
 These electrons can not move relatively freely through
the material.
 Examples of good insulators include glass, rubber and
wood.
 When a good insulator is charged in a small region, the
charge is unable to move to other regions of the
material.

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Semiconductors
The electrical properties of semiconductors are
somewhere between those of insulators and conductors.
Examples of semiconductor materials include silicon
and germanium.
 Semiconductors made from these materials are
commonly used in making electronic chips.
The electrical properties of semiconductors can be
changed by the addition of controlled amounts of
certain atoms to the material.

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Charging by induction in conductors
Charges may freely move in the material  electrical conductors.

Re-distribution of charges Electrons moving off the metal

Charged sphere
Charged sphere

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Induction in isolators
If a material is made of of molecules (like plastics), the
centers of positive and negative charges may move
slightly in the presence of an external charged object.
(induced dipole)

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Charles Coulomb
1736 – 1806
French physicist
Major contributions were in areas of
electrostatics and magnetism
Also investigated in areas of
 Strengths of materials
 Structural mechanics
 Ergonomics

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 How big are the forces between the charges?

1
F 2 F  q1  q2 F  sign(q1)  sign(q2 )
r
q1 q2
Coulombs Law Fe  k e 2
r

Nm2 1
Coulomb constant: e
k  8.9875  10  9
C 2 40
Torsion balance
0 – permittivity of free space

Quantized charge: elementary charge e  1.602  1019C

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Point Charge
The term point charge refers to a particle of zero size
that carries an electric charge.
 The electrical behavior of electrons and protons is well
described by modeling them as point charges.

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Forces as vectors
Coulombs Law in vector form
q1q2
F12  ke 2 rˆ12  F21
r

r̂12 dimensionless unit vector pointing

from charge 1 to charge 2

Force due to a point charge distribution

F3  F13  F23

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Electric Field – Definition
An electric field is said to exist in the region of space
around a charged object.
 This charged object is the source charge.
When another charged object, the test charge, enters
this electric field, an electric force acts on it.

 E is the field produced by some charge or charge distribution,

separate from the test charge.
The existence of an electric field is a property of the source charge.
 The presence of the test charge is not necessary for the field to
exist.
The test charge serves as a detector of the field.

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The electric field
Gravitation: interaction between objects without direct contact.
described by: gravitational field.
Here: One charged object exerts a force on another charged object,
described by a field.
Probing the field of a charge Q with a small test
charge q we get the field vector from the force on
the charge:

E
Fe Fe  qE
q
For a point charge

q
E  ke 2 rˆ
r
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- When gravitational, magnetic and any forces other than static electric forces are
not present, electric field lines in the space surrounding a charge distribution
show
a. the directions of the forces that exist in space at all times.
b. only the directions in which static charges would accelerate when at points
on those lines
c. only the directions in which moving charges would accelerate when at
points on those lines.
d. tangents to the directions in which either static or moving charges would
accelerate when passing through points on those lines.
e. the paths static or moving charges would take.

- When a positive charge q is placed in the field created by two other charges Q1
and Q2, each a distance r away from q, the acceleration of q is
a. in the direction of the charge Q1 or Q2 of smaller magnitude.
b. in the direction of the charge Q1 or Q2 of greater magnitude.
c. in the direction of the negative charge if Q1 and Q2 are of opposite sign.
d. in the direction of the positive charge if Q1 and Q2 are of opposite sign.
e. in a direction determined by the vector sum of the electric fields of Q1 and
Q2.

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Each of two small non-conducting spheres is charged positively, the combined
charge being 40 µC. When the two spheres are 50 cm apart, each sphere is
repelled from the other by a force of magnitude 2.0 N. Determine the magnitude
of the smaller of the two charges.
a. 1.4 µC
b. 1.1 µC
c. 2.0 µC
d. 3.3 µC
e. 17 µC

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Fields due to charge distributions
q
Field contribution from a E  ke 2 rˆ
small charge element r

Electric field due to a charge distribution

qi dq
E  k e  2 rˆi  E  k e  2 rˆ
i ri r

Volume charge density Surface charge density linear charge density

Q

Q

Q 
V A l

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Electric field lines
Field vectors in each point  put them together  field lines
1. At any given point in space the E field vector is tangent to
the field line
2. Field lines leave from positive charges and end at
negative charges
3. Field lines are symmetric for isolated charges
4. The number of lines per unit area through a
perpendicular surface is proportional to the magnitude
of the field

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Field line rules
Number of lines entering / leaving a charge is  the charge
In case of excess charges, some lines end in infinity
No two field lines cross

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An example
The figure shows the electric field lines for two point charges
separated by a small distance.
(a) Determine the ratio q1/q2.
(b) What are the signs of q1 and q2?

q1 : q2 = 1 : 3

q1: negative
q2: positive

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Motion of charged particles in an E field

Parallel field lines with constant

spacing:
(direction and magnitude independent
of the position in the field)
 Uniform electric field

Charge and field determine the

acting force, the mass of the
object the resulting acceleration:

qE
Fe  q  E  m  a a
m
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The cathode ray tube (CRT)

C – cathode (-) , A – anode (+)  acceleration of the electrons

The electron beam can only excite „one pixel“ at a time on the screen.
Picture is written in lines, min. 24 times per second. Deflection plates (creating
time varying electric fields) control the horizontal and vertical steering of the
electron beam to write the lines

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