Electrostatics

Electric Charge
Charges
Charges are everywhere!

Charge always be associated with mass.

Intrinsic property like mass
(always exists along with the particles)
Electric Charge
Charge is the property associated with matter due to
which it produces and experiences electrical and
magnetic effects.

Charge at Rest produces only Electric Effects

Charge in Motion produces both Electric and Magnetic
Effects
A stationary electric charge produces –
(A) Only electric fields
(b) Only magnetic field
(c) Both electric as magnetic field
(d) neither electric N or magnetic field
The electric charge in uniform motion
produces –
(a) an electric field by
(b) a mgnetic field only
(c) both electric and magnetic fields
(d) netither electric nor magnetic fields
Fundamental Charges
S.I. Unit of measurement: Coulomb (C)

Dimensional Formula is

Scalar quantity can be added algebraically.

Examples of Charged particles:

proton,
electron,
α-particles
Fundamental Charges

Electronic Charge e = 1.6×10-19 Coulomb

Charge on Electron = -e = −1.6×10-19 C

Charge on Proton = +e = +1.6×10-19 C

Charge on Neutron = 0 C

Positive and negative sign were arbitrarily assigned by

Benjamin Franklin
Properties of Charges

Types of Charges

Positive charge :
It is the deficiency of electrons as compared to proton.

Negative charge :
It is the excess of electrons as compared to proton.
Question 1

If an object has a net charge of -1 coulomb, the

number of excess electrons it possesses is –
(a) 1.6 × 10-19
18
(b) 6.25 × 10
(c) 6.25 × 1020
(d) 6.25 × 1017
Question 2

If a body has a charge of 10-12 coulomb –

(a) the body has 6.25 × 106 excess of electrons
(b) the body has 625 × 106 excess of electrons
(c) the body has 6.25 × 106 deficiency of electrons
(d) the body has 6.25 × 103 deficiency of electrons
Properties of Charges

Attractive/Repulsive

Like charges Repel

Unlike charges Attract

Properties of Charges

Charge is conserved

Charge is neither created nor destroyed

In every reaction/transformation
the total charge on an isolated system
remains constant.
Properties of Charges

Relativistic invariant

Mass of a Particle varies with its speed v

Unlike mass, the charge on a body

does not vary with speed

Q rest = Q motion
Properties of Charges

Charge is Quantized

Charge on a body must always exist as

an integral multiple of fundamental unit of
charge e.
Fundamental Unit =
Charge on any Body
Question 4
One quantum of charge should be at least
be equal to the charge in coulomb –
-17
(a) 1.6 × 10 C
-19
(b) 1.6 × 10 C
-10
(c) 1.6 × 10 C
-10
(d) 4.8 × 10 C
Charge versus Mass

Charge Mass

1.Electric charge can be positive or negative 1.Mass of a body is always positive

2.Charge is conserved 2.Mass is not conserved as it can be

converted into energy and vice versa by E =
mc2

3.Charge is quantized 3.Quantization of mass is yet to be

established

4.Charge is relativistically invariant Qrest = 4.Mass is relativistically variant.

Qmotion

5.Force between charges may be attractive 5.Force between masses is always

or repulsive. attractive
Question 5

Which one of the following statement regarding electrostatics is

wrong?
(a) Charge is quantized
(b) Charge is conserved
(c) There is an electric field near an isolated charge at rest
(d) A stationary charge produces both electric and magnetic
fields
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