Quantization of Charge

• A body becomes charged either by gaining or losing

electrons.
• It follows that the charge of a body must be integral
multiples of e.
• In other words, a charge is “quantized,” with e as the
smallest charge.
• In (1963), physicist Murray Gellman and George
Zweig proposed the existence of quarks.
• Quarks have unusual property of carrying fractional
charges of an electron.
• The name quark was taken from a line in James
Joyce’s poem “Three Quarks for Muster Mark”
in his book Finnegans Wake.
• There are six types of quarks, and each quark
has a corresponding antiquark (antiparticle of
a quark that has the same mass but opposite
charge).
•Quarks always come in combinations, with
a total charge being an integral multiple e.
•A quark-antiquark pair is called meson.
•A combination of three quarks, a baryon.
•A combination of three antiquarks, an
antibaryon.
•A proton is a baryon consisting of two up
quarks and one down quark.
• A neutron is a baryon consisting of two down
quarks and one up quark.
• Mesons and baryons are collectively called
badrons.
• In 2015 and 2016, the existence of pentaquarks
and tetraquarks, respectively, was discovered.
• Tetraquarks consist of four quarks, while
pentaquarks consist of four quarks and one
antiquark.
Coulomb’s Law

• Coulomb discovered that the magnitude of

the electric force between two charged
particles is directly proportional to the
product of the product of the magnitudes of
the charges and inversely proportional to
the square of the distance between them.
• This statement is called Coulomb’s Law.
• Mathematically, this can be written as
•=k
• is the magnitude of electric force in
Newtons
• are the charges of coloumbs
• is the distance meters
• is the Coulomb’s constant
• Approximate value of 9 x N.
Note

•Only the absolute value of the

product of is determined because
only the magnitude of the force is
to be computed.
•The force magnitude F is always
positive.
• The electric force F is a vector quantity, which
may be positive or negative depending on its
direction, which along the line joining and .
• The vectors representing the force that exerts
on and vise versa are pointing toward each
other for attraction and away from each other
for repulsion.
• These force are equal, but opposite in direction
in accordance with Newton’s third law of
motion.
• Coulomb’s law bears a strong resemblance to
Newton’s law of universal gravitation.
• Both equations have the same form.
• Recall that the gravitational force between two
masses is given by
•
• G is the universal gravitational constant
approximately equal to 6.674x N. /k
• The electric force and the gravitational force have
similarities and differences.
• Both forces follow the inverse square law for distance.
• Both forces also proportional to the product of the
quantity that causes the force; that is, mass for
gravitational force and charge of electric force.
• Lastly, both forces are conservative and noncontact.
• The gravitational force is only an attractive force, while
the electric force may be attractive or repulsive. The
gravitational force, in general, is much weaker that the
electric force.
Sample Problem
• Two protons are separated by a distance of 3.8x
air. Find the magnitude of the electric force one
proton exerts on the other. Is this force attractive
or repulsive? Find the magnitude of the
gravitational force one proton exerts on the
other. Is this force attractive or repulsive?
 Electric Field
• Electric force is a noncontact force. An electric charge
ɋ can exert force on other charged objects even
though they are at some distance away.
• The space surrounding a charged body is called an
electric field.
• An electric field causes any changed particle placed in
it to experience an electric force.
• Every charge has an electric field associated with it.
Electric Lines of Force
•Michael Faraday, an English scientist
who made important discoveries in
electricity and magnetism,
introduced the use of electric lines
of force to map out an electric field.
 Lines of force have the following properties:
• 1. Lines of force start from positively charged
particles and end on negatively charged particles or
continue toward infinity.
• 2. Lines of force neither intersect nor break as they
pass from one charge to another.
• 3. The greater the number of lines of force, the stronger
the electric field. The neutral point is the point where no
lines of force pass. The electric field is zero at the neutral
point. Thus, neutral points are points where the resultant
field is subtractive and the electric fields are equal but
oppositely directed.
• A neutral point between two like charges is a point
between the two charges and nearer the smaller charge.
• For two unlike charges, lines of force can pass from
positive to negative charge. The neutral point cannot be
between them; it is an external point along the line joining
them and nearer the small charge.
 Electric Field Due to a Point Change
• An electric field exists in the region of space around
a charged object or a source charge.
• When another charged object enters this electric
field, it will experience an electric force.
• The strength of the electric field at a point due to
the source charge is called electric field intensity.
• Electric field is defined as the force that a test
charge will experience when place at a point.
• Physicists use a unit positive charge as the test charge
in defining an electric field. This test charge and the
electric field are usually represented by and
respectively.
• The electric field produced by a point source charge
can be obtained using Coulomb’s law.
• The electric field at any point is given by the equation
• E=
• Where E is electric field, is the electric force, and is
the test change.
•To calculate the electric field at any point
at a distance r in space from a point
charge imagine a test charge placed at
the point. The magnitude of the electric
force on is
•=k
•Thus, the magnitude of the electric field
due to the point charge is
•E= =k
•It follows that E has the unit of
newton/coulomb (N/C). Like electric
force, electric field is also a vector
quantity tat has the same direction as
the electric force on a positive charge
placed at a point.
•The electric field also follows the
superposition principle.
 Electric Field Inside a Conductor
• Faraday demonstrated that the electric field is zero
inside a closed conducting surface and that an
excess charge placed on a solid conductor resides
entirely on its surface.
• He constructed a room covered with a metal foil
inside. This room, with a conducting frame that
protected Faraday from the static charge, is known
as a Faraday cage.
• Any closed conducting surface can function
as a Faraday cage, shielding whatever is
inside it from any damaging effect of electric
fields.
• Delicate pieces of electrical equipment are
usually enclosed in metal cases.
• Computer chips as well as other electronic
components are placed in conducting plastic
or aluminum packaging.
Electric Flux
• Electric field can be quantitatively described using the
concept of electric flux.
• The word flux comes from the Latin word fluxus,
meaning “flow.” Electric flux ɸ is measure of the
number of field lines passing through a surface.
• Mathematically, electric flux is the dot product of the
electric field and area vector.
• The direction of the area vector is the same as
that of a vector perpendicular to the area.
• This vector, by convention, is directed outward
from the area.

• Where is the angle between the electric field

and the area.
• Note that electric flux is scalar and has the unit
of N·/C.