ELECTRICITY

BY : SAURABH SINGH
ELECTRIC CHARGE (Q):

◦ Electric charge is the physical property of matter that causes

it to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic
field
◦ There are two types of electric charge: positive and negative.
◦ S.I unit of charge is Coulomb and C.G.S unit is statcoulomb
Properties of electric charge:

 Charge is a scalar quantity

 Charge is conserved, i.e Charge is transferable
 Charge is quantized
 Like charges repel each other while unlike charges attract each other.
 A charged body may attract a neutral body or an oppositely charged
body but it always repels a similarly charged body . Note: Repulsion is a
sure test of electrification whereas attraction may not be.
Properties of electric charge:

 Charge is always associated with mass, i.e. charges cannot exist without mass
though mass can exist without charge.
 Charge is relatively invariant: This means that charge is independent of frame of
reference, i.e, charge on a body does not change whatever be its speed. This
property is worth mentioning as in contrast to charge, the mass of a body
depends on its speed and increases with increase in speed.
 A charge at rest produces only electric field around itself; a charge having
uniform motion produces electric as well as magnetic field around itself while a
charge having acceleration emits electromagnetic radiation also in addition to
producing electric and magnetic fields.
QUANTIZATION OF ELECTRIC CHARGE :
• The charge on an electron (-e=1.6×10 C) or on a proton
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(+e=+1.6×10 C) is minimum.
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• Since a body cannot lose or gain a fraction of an electron, the

charge on a body must be an integral multiple of electronic
charge ±e

• In other words, charge on a body can only be q = ± ne where

n=1, 2, 3, 4, and e=1.6×10-19C. This is called quantization of
charge
Note:

• The quantization of charge shows that charge is discrete in nature and

not of continuous nature.

• Since the charge on an electron is so small (e=1.6×10-19C), we normally

do not notice its discreteness in
macroscopic charge (1µC charge requires about 1013 electrons) which
thus seems continuous.
CONSERVATION OF ELECTRIC
CHARGE
Just as total linear momentum of an isolated system always remains constant, similarly,
the total electric charge of an isolated system always remains constant. This is called law
of conservation of charge and may be stated as under: The total electric charge of an
isolated system always remains constant.

In any physical process, the charges may get transferred from one part of the system to
the other but total or net charge remains the same. In other words, charges can neither
be created nor destroyed.
Electric Current ( I ):

 •
It is the amount of charge flowing through a cross-section of a conductor
in 1 second.
• If a charge Q flows through a cross-section of a conductor in time t, then:

• Current is a scalar quantity

• It's S.I. unit is ampere (A).
• The direction of electric current is as that of flow of positive charge
 Points to remember :
◦  
A conductor remains uncharged when current flow through it.
Electric current in a conductor is setup
due to the organised motion of free electrons
on applying an external source.
For a given conductor, the current flowing
through it does not vary as its
cross – sectional area varies.
At any junction the sum of the currents
entering the junction must equal to
the sum of the currents leaving the junction
.
 Electric Potential ():

◦  
 Definition :The electric potential at a point in an electric field is defined as the
amount of work done in moving a unit positive charge from infinity to the point of
consideration, without acceleration or without change in K.E. , against the
electrostatic force.
 Formula : If W is the amount of work done to bring q charge from infinity to point A
of electricfield then electric potential at point A is given by –

 SI Unit : J/C or volt (V)

 Potential is a scalar quantity .
Potential Difference (V):
◦  
 Definition :The electric potential difference between two point in an electric field is
defined as the amount of work done in moving a unit +ve charge from one point to
another point, without acceleration or without a change in K.E., against the
electrostatic force.
 Formula: If W is the amount of work done to bring q charge from point A to point B of
electric field then potential difference is given by –

 Definition of 1 volt :The potential difference between two points is said to be 1 volt if
the work done in moving 1 coulomb charge from one point to another is 1 joule.
 SI unit - Volt ( V )
Flow of charge:
• If the two spheres are connected by a metal wire,
electrons from the negatively charged sphere
(at a lower potential) will flow to the positively
charged sphere (at a higher potential

• Eventually, the flow of electrons causes the charges on the spheres to become
balanced

• When that happens, the spheres no longer carry a net charge, and therefore, have
equal potential.

• So, the flow of electrons stops.

• So we can say that a potential difference causes charges to flow.

OHM’S LAW
◦  
It states that the current passing through a conductor is directly proportional to the
potential difference across its ends, provided the physical conditions (mechanical
strain, temperature etc.) remain unchanged.
 i.e
 Hence
 Where, R is proportionality constant known as resistance of the conductor
 Ohm’s law is not a universal law, the substances, which obey ohm’s law are known as
ohmic substance
Resistance (R)
◦  
 When the electrons move from one part of the conductor to the other part, they collide
with other electrons and with the atoms and ions present in the body of the conductor.
 Due to these collisions, there is some obstruction or opposition to the flow of electrons
through the conductor.
 The property of a conductor due to which it opposes the flow of current through it, is
called resistance.
 The resistance of a conductor is numerically equal to the ratio of potential difference
across its ends to the current flowing through it.
   SI unit of resistance
is ohm