PHY2061 Enriched Physics 2 Lecture Notes Coulomb

Coulombs Law

Disclaimer: These lecture notes are not meant to replace the course textbook. The
content may be incomplete. Some topics may be unclear. These notes are only meant to
be a study aid and a supplement to your own notes. Please report any inaccuracies to the
professor.
Electric Charge

It is an intrinsic property of particles (i.e. electrons and protons)
Comes in both positive and negative amounts (assignment of +and chosen by
Ben Franklin)
Usually denote charge by letter q, unit of measure is the Coulomb, C, in SI units
o Electron:
19
1.6022 10 C
e
q e

= =
o Proton:
19
1.6022 10 C
p
q e

= =
o In fact, all charge is quantized in integer multiples of e (see further
below)
Most matter is electrically neutral (balanced: equal amounts +and )
o For example, hydrogen, as with all atoms, is neutral. That is lucky for us,
otherwise we would have strong attractions to other pieces of matter. But
this observation is not explained by any verifiable theory yet!
Can get a net imbalance of electric charge:
o Silk on glass excess +charge on glass
o Fur on plastic excess charge on plastic
Net charge is always conserved
Like-sign charges repel
Opposite-sign charges attract
Need a force law to describe this!

Force Laws

Unit of force is Newtons, N, (kg m s
-2
), in SI units 2


12
r

1
Newtons Law of Gravity:
1 2
12 2
12

grav
mm
G
r
= F r
m is mass, measured in kg (SI units). Think of it as the charge for gravity.
11
6.67 10 G

= N m
2
kg
-2
is Newtons gravitational constant
12
r is the distance between two masses, i.e.
12
| | r
12
r is a unit vector pointing along the direction between mass 1 and mass 2
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PHY2061 Enriched Physics 2 Lecture Notes Coulomb


Note that mass is always defined positive (only one type of gravitational charge). Also,
the force is always attractive, not repulsive. So the direction of the force is always toward
another mass.

Coulombs Law (Law of Electrostatics, 1785):
1 2
12 2
12

coul
q q
K
r
= F r
q is electric charge, measured in C (SI units)
9
0
1
9 10
4
K

= = N m
2
C
-2
is the electrostatic constant [Note: some books use k]
12
0
8.85 10

= C
2
N
-1
m
-2
is the electric permittivity constant

Note that electric charge q can be positive or negative. The force is either attractive
(opposite charges) or repulsive (like-sign charges). So the direction of the force is either
toward another charge (attractive) or oppositely directed from another charge (repulsive).
That is, the force is always aligned along . Use this guidance in determining the
direction of a force along a particular axis, not the sign of
12
r
1
q q
2
directly.

Interpretation of force:
A force causes an object to accelerate if it is free to move.

Newtons Second Law: m = F a

So for the Coulomb force acting on two charged particles otherwise free to move, the
acceleration of one of the particles will be:

1 1 2
1 1 2
1 1 12

q q K
m m r
= =
F
a r
2


Comparison of Gravitational and Electric Forces:

Compare strengths of forces for two objects separated by 1m. Each object has a mass of 1
kg and a charge of 1 C:
11
2
9 20
2
11
| | 6.67 10 N
1
11
| | 9 10 N 10 | | !
1
grav
coul grav
F G
F K F

= =

= = >


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PHY2061 Enriched Physics 2 Lecture Notes Coulomb

Compare attractive force between electron and proton in hydrogen:

( )( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
-31 27
11 47
2 2
10
0
2
19
9 8
2 2
10
0
9.11 10 kg 1.67 10 kg
| | 6.67 10 4 10 N
0.5 10 m
1.6 10 C
| | 9 10 N 9 10 N 10 | | !
0.5 10 m
e p
grav
e p
coul grav
m m
F G
a
q q
F K F
a

= = =

= = = >

40

Electric Charge Quantization

Experiment done by American physicist Robert Millikan demonstrated that electric
charge is quantized.

++++++

F
coul
q
F
grav

- - - - - - -

Millikans oil drop experiment
balanced gravitational force,
grav
F , with electric force,
coul
F

19
0, 1, 2,... 1.6022 10 C q n e n e

= = =

There exists an elementary unit of charge!
No smaller charge observed, although quarks (constituents of protons and neutrons) are
expected to have fractional electric charges. But nevertheless, quantization is still a
unique feature. Electrons: , protons: q = e e q = + . We dont know why balanced!

1 Coulomb of electrons is
18
19
1 C
6 10 electrons
1.6 10 C

!

Electric Charge Conservation

The net sum of electric charge is always conserved. So when a charged conducting object
is brought into contact with another conducting object, the charges in the two objects may
redistribute, but the net charge of the combined two-object system will remain the same.
Likewise, charge is always conserved in reactions:

1
1
238 234 4
92 90 2
p e H
e e
U Th

+
+
+
+
+ H


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PHY2061 Enriched Physics 2 Lecture Notes Coulomb
Coulombs Law Example (1-dimension)

y

F
12
F
21
x
q
1
q
2
x
Consider 2 point charges, q
1
and q
2
, separated by a distance x.
Let:
1
2
3 0 ( is some positive number)
(both charges are negative)
1 m
q q q q
q q
x
= >
=
=


Convention:
denotes the force acting on particle 1 from the presence of particle 2
12
F

Since the force is repulsive (same-sign electric charges),
12 12
F = F

x (points in negative x direction).

By Newtons 3
rd
Law, that for every action (force) there is an equal and opposite
reaction, the force on particle 2 from particle 1 is:

21 12 12
F = = F F

x (points in positive x direction).

Again, use this line of reasoning to determine the direction of the force and not the sign in
Coulombs Law.

The magnitude of the force is given by Coulombs Law:

2 1 2
12 12 2
| || |
| | 3
q q
F K Kq
x
= = = F
Since the force is non-zero and repulsive, the charges will accelerate in the directions
specified by the forces.

Can we add a third charge to counteract this force and leave all charge stationary?
Yes! Place a third positive charge between charges 1 and 2.

Note that the superposition principle holds: adding a third charge does not affect the force
between charges 1 and 2.

Let particle 1 reside at x =0, particle 2 at x = 1 m, and particle 3 at x = r, where 0 <r <1.


y

F
12
F
13
F
23
F
21
r
q
1
q
3
q
2
x






Find r such that all charges remain at rest, and determineq
3
2 unknowns.

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PHY2061 Enriched Physics 2 Lecture Notes Coulomb
Equilibrium 0 Sum of all forces acting on particle j equals 0.
ji
i
=

F
For particle 1 this means:
12 13 12 13
0 or + = = F F F F
So:

1 3 1 2
2 2
2
3 2
separation between 1 and 3
1
q q q q
K K r
r
q r q
= =
=


Equilibrium of particle 2 implies:
21 23 21 23
0 or + = = F F F F

( )
( )
2 3 2 1
2 2
2
3 1
1 separation between 2 and 3
1
1
1
q q q q
K K r
r
q r q
= =

=


Setting the two equations we obtained for q
3
equal yields:


( )
( )
2
2
2 1
1
2
2 2
2
2
1
Plug in:
3
1 2 3
2 6 3 0
4
quadratic equation
2
6 36 4 2 3 3 1
3
2 2 2 2
r q r q
q q
q q
qr r r q
r r
b b ac
r
a
r
=
=
=
= +
+ =

=

= =

Only the solution 0 <r <1 works, so
( )
1
3 3 0.63
2
r = (a little more than half-way)
We can solve for q
3
:
2
3 2 2
3

0.4 indeed positive
q r q q q
q q
= =
+


This is an unstable equilibrium. If any charge is moved, the forces will no longer balance
and will tend to move the charges even farther away from the equilibrium point (i.e. there
is no restoring force to make the equilibrium stable).

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PHY2061 Enriched Physics 2 Lecture Notes Coulomb
Coulombs Law Example (2-dimensions)
F
23
F
21
y q
2



F
13
F
31
q
1
q
3
x
F
12
F
32

Consider 3 charges placed in the shape of an equilateral triangle.
Each vertex carries an equal charge:
1 2 3
(negative) q q q q = = =
and the side length is d.



Forces on each charge are repulsive (triangle wants to expand).
Magnitude of forces are all equal:
2
13 31 12 21 23 32 2
q
K
d
= = = = = = F F F F F F
But note that directions of the forces are not always the same.

Where can we add a fourth charge q
4
so that all charges are at rest?
By symmetry, we expect the location of a positive fourth charge to be at the center of the
triangle. But we need to determine the amount of charge needed to keep the triangle from
expanding (forces must balance, so that charges are static).

F
23
F
21
y q
2

q
4
F
13
F
31
q
1
q
3
x
F
12
F
32

For particle 1:
12 13 14
0 + + = F F F
(condition for forces to balance at equilibrium)

Note that this is a vector equation, and the forces must
separately balance in the x and y directions.
In component notation, these forces are:


12 12 12
13 13
14 14 14
cos60 sin60

cos30 sin30
F F
F
F F
=
=
= +
F x y
F x
F x y




So balancing each component of the forces gives:


12 13 14
12 14
: cos60 cos30 0
: sin60 sin30 0
F F F
F F
+
+ =
x
y


=

Now
2
12 13 2
q
K
d
= = F F
While
4
14 2
where
3
qq d
K = = F

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PHY2061 Enriched Physics 2 Lecture Notes Coulomb
Lets take the equation balancing forces in : y


( )
2
4
2 2
4
4 1
3 1
0
2 2 /3
3 3 0
0 whereas
3
qq q
K K
d d
q q
q
q q
+ =
+ =
= > = q


This solves for the fourth charge, but it is useful to cross-check with the force equation
to check for any mistakes:
x


( )
2 2
4
2 2 2
4
4
1 3
0
2 2 /3
3 3
3 0
2 2
3
qq q q
K K K
d d d
q q
q
q
+ =
+ =
=


which checks out. We could also balance the forces acting on any of the other particles as
well to determine the fourth charge.
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