Applied Physics

Course Code- CSC 1204 Physics

Lecture # 1 & 2
Chapter 21 - Electric Charge
• Book We Follow:
Fundamentals of Physics, Resnick and Walker ,
10th Edition
 Topics To be Covered
• Electric Charge
• Type of charges
• Charging a conductor by Induction
Empirically it was known since ancient
times that if amber is rubbed on cloth, it
acquires the property of attracting light
objects such as feathers. This
phenomenon was attributed to a new
property of matter called “electric
charge.” (Electron is the Greek name for
amber.) More experiments show that
there are two distinct types of electric
charge: positive and negative. The names
“positive” and “negative” were given by
Benjamin Franklin. When we rub a glass
rod with silk cloth, both objects acquire
electric charge. The sign on the charge on
the glass rod is defined as Positive. In a
similar fashion, when we rub a plastic rod
with fur both objects acquire electric
charge. The sign on the charge on the
plastic rod is defined as negative.
Q. Do we have enough information so as
to be able to determine the sign of all
other charges in nature? To answer this
question we need one more piece of
information.
Further experiments on charged objects
showed that:
1.Charges of the same type (either both
positive or both negative) repel each
other (fig. a).
2.Charges of opposite type on the other
hand attract each other (fig. b). The force
direction allows us to determine the sign
of an unknown electric charge.
Charges of the same sign repel each
other. Charges of opposite sign attract
each other.
The recipe is as follows:
We charge a glass rod by rubbing it with
silk cloth. Thus we know that the charge
on the glass rod is positive. The rod is
suspended in such a way so that it can
keep its charge and also rotate freely
under the influence of a force applied by
charge with the unknown sign. We
approach the suspended glass rod with
the new charge whose sign we wish to
determine. Two outcomes are possible.
These are shown in the figure to the left:
Fig. a: The two objects repel each other.
We then conclude that the unknown
charge has a positive sign.
Fig. b: The two objects attract each other.
We then conclude that the unknown
charge has a negative sign.
Conductors are materials through which charge can move rather
freely; examples include metals (such as copper in common lamp
wire), the human body, and tap water.
Nonconductors—also called insulators—are materials
through which charge cannot move freely; examples include
rubber (such as the insulation on common lamp wire), plastic,
glass, and chemically pure water.
Semiconductors are materials that are intermediate between
conductors and insulators; examples include silicon and
germanium in computer chips.
Superconductors are materials that are perfect conductors,
allowing charge to move without any hindrance.
• Charging a Conductor by Induction
A conductor can be charged using the procedure shown in fig. In
fig. a conductor is suspended using an insulating thread. The
conductor is initially uncharged . We then approach the
conductor with a negatively charged rod. The negative charges
on the rod are fixed because plastic is an insulator. These repel
the conduction electrons of the conductor, which end up at the
right end of the rod. The right end of the rod has an electron
deficiency and thus becomes positively charged.
Note 1 : The induced charge on the conductor has the opposite
sign of the charge on the rod.
 Charging a Conductor by Induction

We can charge a metal ball using a copper wire and an electrically charged
plastic rod, as in Fig. In this process, some of the excess electrons on the rod are
transferred from it to the ball, leaving the rod with a smaller negative charge.
But there is a different technique in which the plastic rod can give another body
a charge of opposite sign without losing any of its own charge. This process is
called charging by induction.
 Charging a Conductor by Induction

 An uncharged metal ball is supported on an

insulating stand.

 When you bring a negatively charged rod

near it, without actually touching it (Fig. b),
the free electrons in the metal ball are
repelled by the excess electrons on the rod,
and they shift toward the right, away from
the rod. They cannot escape from the ball
because the supporting stand and the
surrounding air are insulators. So we get
excess negative charge at the right surface of
the ball and a deficiency of negative charge
(that is, a net positive charge) at the left
surface. These excess charges are called
induced charges.
 Charging a Conductor by Induction

Not all of the free electrons move to the right

surface of the ball. As soon as any induced
charge develops, it exerts forces toward the
left on the other free electrons. These
electrons are repelled by the negative induced
charge on the right and attracted toward the
positive induced charge on the left. The system
reaches an equilibrium state in which the force
toward the right on an electron, due to the
charged rod, is just balanced by the force
toward the left due to the induced charge. If
we remove the charged rod, the free electrons
shift back to the left, and the original neutral
condition is restored.
 Charging a Conductor by Induction
What happens if, while the plastic rod is nearby, you
touch one end of a conducting wire to the right
surface of the ball and the other end to the earth (Fig.
c)?
The earth is a conductor, and it is so large that it can
act as a practically infinite source of extra electrons or
sink of unwanted electrons. Some of the negative
charge flows through the wire to the earth.

Now suppose you disconnect the wire

(Fig. d) and then remove the rod (Fig.
e); a net positive charge is left on the
ball. The charge on the negatively
charged rod has not changed during
this process. The earth acquires a
negative charge that is equal in
magnitude to the induced positive
charge remaining on the ball.
 Charging a Conductor by Induction
The charges within the molecules of an insulating material can shift slightly. As a
result, a comb with either sign of charge attracts a neutral insulator. By Newton’s third
law the neutral insulator exerts an equal-magnitude attractive force on the comb.
 Coulomb's Law
Consider two charges q1 and q2 placed at a distance r.
The two charges exert a force on each other that has the
following characteristics:
1. The force acts along the line connecting the two
charges.
2. The force is attractive for charges of opposite sign.
The force is repulsive for charges of the same sign.
The magnitude of the force, known as Coulomb force, is
given by the equation.

SI unit of charge is the coulomb (C).

 Coulomb's Law
The Coulomb force has the same form as Newton's gravitational force.

1. Gravitational force is always attractive.

2. Coulomb's force on the other hand can be either attractive or repulsive
depending on the sign of the charges involved.

If we have n charged particles, they interact independently in pairs, and

the force on any one of them, let us say particle 1, is given by the vector
sum
 Force between two point charges

Two point charges, = + 25nC and = -75nC are separated by a distance r= 3.0cm
(Fig. 21.12a). Find the magnitude and direction of the electric force
(a) that exerts on
(b) that exerts on
 Force between two point charges

Find the magnitude and direction of the electric force (a) that exerts on

The charges have opposite signs, so the force is attractive (to the left that is, the
force that acts on is directed toward along the line joining the two charges.

Find the magnitude and direction of the electric force (a) thatexerts on

The attractive force that acts on is to the right, toward

 Numerical Problems
1.What must be the distance between point charge q1=26.0 µC and point charge
q2= 47.0 µC for the electrostatic force between them to have a magnitude of 5.70
N?

2. A particle of charge 3.00 × 10-6 C is 12.0 cm distant from a second particle of

charge 1.50 ×10-6C. Calculate the magnitude of the electrostatic force between the
particles.