Lecture Outline

Chapter 15

College Physics, 7th Edition

Wilson / Buffa / Lou

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 Units of Chapter 15
Electric Charge
Electrostatic Charging
Electric Force
Electric Field
Conductors and Electric Fields
Gauss’s Law for Electric Fields: A Qualitative
Approach

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 15.1 Electric Charge

Electric charge is a
fundamental property of
matter; electric charges may be
positive or negative.
The atom consists of a small
positive nucleus surrounded
by a negative electron cloud.

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 15.1 Electric Charge

Like charges repel; unlike charges attract.

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 15.1 Electric Charge
SI unit of charge: the coulomb, C. All charges
are integer multiples of the charge on the
electron (typically an easy AP test question):

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 15.1 Electric Charge

Charge is conserved:
The net charge of an isolated system
remains constant.

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 15.2 Electrostatic Charging

Conductors transmit
charges readily.
Semiconductors are
intermediate; their
conductivity can depend
on impurities and can be
manipulated by external
voltages on purpose
(computers).
Insulators do not transmit
charge at all (grounding).
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 15.2 Electrostatic Charging
An electroscope may be used to determine if an
object is electrically charged.

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 15.2 Electrostatic Charging

Charge may also be

moved within an
object—without
changing its net
charge—through a
process called
polarization.

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 15.3 Electric Force
The force exerted by one charged particle
on another is given by (Coulomb’s Law):

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 15.3 Electric Force

If there are multiple point charges, the force

vectors must be added to get the net force.

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Figure a Figure b

1. Two point charges of -1.0 nC and +2.0 nC are separated by a distance

of 0.30 m. what is the electric force on each particle? See figure (b)

2. q1= +2.5 nC , q2= +2.5 nC, q3 = +3.0 nC using given information in figure
a What is the net force on q3 and the direction of the force?
Discussion

Note: 0.5 is obtained using Pythagoras theorem

 q1

0.3

θ
• To find the direction, first find θ 0.4
q3

• tan θ = 0.3/0.4 = 37o

• F31x = F32x= F31cos θ = 0.27 x 10-6 cos 37 =0.216 µN
• F31y = F32y = F31sin θ = 0.27 x 10-6 sin 37= 0.16 µN
• F3x =F31x + F32x = 0.216 µN + 0.216 µN = 0.432 µN
• F3y = F31y + F32y = 0.16 µN - 0.16 µN = 0
• Thus F3 = 0.432i µN (this shows it only acts in the
positive x-direction)
 15.4 Electric Field

Definition of the electric field:

The direction of the field, is the direction

the force would be on a positive charge.

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 15.4 Electric Field
Charges create electric fields, and these fields in turn
exert electric forces on other charges.

Electric field of a point charge:

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 15.4 Electric Field
For multiple charges, the total electric field is
found using the superposition principle:
For a configuration of charges, the total, or net, electric
field at any point is the vector sum of the electric fields
due to the individual charges.

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Charge q1 = 7.00 C is at the origin, and charge q2 = -5.00 C is on the x-axis, 0.300
m from the origin. (a) Find the magnitude and direction of the electric field at point P,
which has coordinates (0, 0.400) m. (b) Find the force on a charge of 2.00 x 10-8 C
placed at P.
Solution
 15.4 Electric Field

It is convenient to represent
the electric field using
electric field lines, or lines
of force. These lines are
drawn so the field is tangent
to the line at every point –
radial lines that are
perpendicular to the circular
lines.

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 15.4 Electric Field

Rules for drawing electric field lines:

1. Closer lines mean a stronger field.
2. The field is tangent to the lines at every point.
3. Field lines start on positive charges and end
on negative charges.
4. The number of lines entering or leaving a
charge is proportional to the magnitude of the
charge.
5. Field lines never cross.
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 15.4 Electric Field
Electric field lines of a dipole:

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 15.4 Electric Field

Electric field lines due to like

charges: (a) equal charges;
(b) unequal charges.

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 Electric field on one dimension
Two point charges are placed on the x-axis. Find the location on the axis where
the electric field is zero, if the distance between them is 0.6 m.

q1 = +1.5µC
q2 = +6.0µC

+ + X-axis
0 0.6
 15.5 Conductors and Electric Fields

Excess charges on a conductor will repel each

other, and will wind up being as far apart as
possible – poles.

Any excess charge on an isolated conductor resides

entirely on the surface of the conductor – Faraday’s
Cage, current in a wire.

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 15.5 Conductors and Electric Fields
The force from neighboring charges is less when
the curvature of the surface is large:
Excess charge tends to accumulate
at sharp points, or locations of
highest curvature, on charged
conductors. As a
result, the electric
field is greatest at
such locations.

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15.6 Gauss’s Law for Electric Fields: A
Qualitative Approach

If a greater amount of charge is

enclosed, more field lines cross
the surface.

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15.6 Gauss’s Law for Electric Fields: A
Qualitative Approach
Here, surface 1 surrounds the
positive charge and has lines
exiting it.
Surface 2 surrounds the negative
charge and has lines entering it.
Surface 3 does not enclose any
charge, and the same number of
lines exit as enter.

Surface 4 encloses both charges; as they are

equal in magnitude, the same number of lines exit
the surface as enter it.
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15.6 Gauss’s Law for Electric Fields: A
Qualitative Approach
The underlying physical principle of Gauss’s
law:
The net number of electric field lines passing through
an imaginary closed surface is proportional to the
amount of net charge enclosed within that surface.

This can be used to show

that excess charge on a
conductor must reside on
the surface.

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 Summary of Chapter 15

Like charges repel; unlike charges attract.

Charge is conserved.
Electrons move freely inside conductors, but
not inside insulators.
Objects may be charged electrostatically by
friction, conduction, or induction.
Polarization is the separation of positive and
negative charge within an object.

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 Summary of Chapter 15

Coulomb’s law:

The electric field, a vector, is the force per

unit charge. Electric fields from multiple
charges add by superposition.
Electric field lines are used to represent the
electric field.
A conductor has zero electric field inside
and has all excess charge on its surface.

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 Summary of Chapter 15

The electric field is always perpendicular to

the surface of a conductor.
The charge density and electric field are
greatest on a conductor where the curvature
is largest.

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