Electric fields

What is electric charge?

• It is a fundamental
property of many sub-
atomic particles:
– Electrons have a negative
charge
– Protons have a positive
charge

• Objects become charged

by gaining excess electrons
or by losing electrons
 Units of Electric Charge
• Coulomb • Elementary Charge
– the charge transported – the magnitude of the
by a current of one charge on a proton or
ampere in one second
electron
– Domestic power sockets
– It is the smallest charge
can deliver 13 A
found in nature
6.25 × 1018 electrons = 1
e = 1.602 × 10 -19 C
Coulomb
Force between electric charges
 Electric Fields
• Electric field: a region of space
where an electric charge
experiences a force

• Field strength: the force per unit

charge experienced by a small
positive point charge placed at
that point (Unit = NC-1)

• Force on a charged particle in an

electric field is given by:
 Shapes of the Electric Fields
• Field lines start from
positive charge and end
on a negative charge

• Field lines show the

direction a positive
charge will move in the
field

• High line density = strong

field

• Field lines never cross

• Field lines meet a

conducting surface at 90o
Alternative Units for Electric Field
• Electric Field Strength can
also be calculated from the
change in potential (Volt)
against distance from an
electric charge

(Unit = V m-1)

• Numerically equal to N C-1

 Coulomb’s law
• q1 and q2 are the charges in
Coulombs

• r is the distance of separation

• k is about 8.99 ×109 N m2 C-2 in a

vacuum or air

• Since F=qE, Field strength at a

distance r from a charge Q is:
 What is k?
• k depends on the material Material Permittivity
• In a vacuum: / 10-12 C2 N-1
m-2

Vacuum 8.854
Air 8.855
• 0 is the permittivity of a free Paper 35
space (vacuum) Rubber 62
• 0 = 8.85 ×10-12 C2 N-1 m-2 Diamond 71
• In material other than a Graphite 106
vacuum, permittivity will be a
Water 779
different value
 Electric current
• Electric current is the rate of flow of charge

• 1 ampere (A) = 1 coulomb per second

 Direction of current
• Conventional goes from
positive to negative

• Electrons flow from

negative to positive

• Blame Benjamin
Franklin – it was his
fault
Conduction in metals
• Atoms bonded together in a lattice
– Common sea of electrons (outer
shell) that occupies the entire volume
of the metal
– Free / valence / conduction electrons

• Without electric field:

– Electrons in random motion
– Average speed approximately speed
of sound in the material

• With electric field:

– Less-random motion
– Average speed of migration called
drift velocity
 Charge carrier drift speed

• v: The average speed at which charge carriers move to create a current (m s-1)
• q is the charge on an electron (1.6 x 10-19 C)
• n is the number of charges per m3
• A is the cross-sectional area (m2)
• v in copper  0.05 mm s-1
• Speed of electromagnetic wave  c
 EMF (Electromotive force)
• Work per unit charge
made available by an
electrical source
ε = W/q

– Emf: energy transferred

to electric charges

– pd: energy transferred

by electric charge
 Potential difference (pd)
• The electric potential energy transferred (work done)
when one unit of charge (Q) moves between two
points in a circuit
 Electrical Work and Power
• work done = charge x potential An electron, initially at rest is
difference accelerated through a potential
difference of 180 V
• Electrical work: Find:
• the gain in kinetic energy
• The final speed

• Power:
 The electronvolt (eV)
• This is the energy
gained by an
electron when it
moves through a
potential difference
of one volt
Data Booklet