Physics 0175 (Spring 2014)

Week 1, Part 1
Introduction to the Course
Electric Charge
Coulombs Law

Lecturer Information
Lecturer:

Prof. Sergey Frolov

E-Mail: frolovsm@pitt.edu

Lectures:

Tuesday and Thursday

6:00pm-7:40pm Alumni Hall 343

Office Hours:

Tuesday and Thursday

3:00 4:00 pm
220 Allen Hall

Please give me feedback early and often

if you have comments or suggestions!
Email is my preferred means of contact.
If you need to meet with me outside of office hours:
schedule an appointment with me in advance.

Where to Go for Help

1. Your Recitation Section.
2. Office Hours:
Lecturer:

Prof. Sergey Frolov

E-Mail: frolovsm@pitt.edu
Office: 220 Allen Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 3:00 4:00 pm

TA:

Bradley Slezak
E-Mail: brs107@pitt.edu,
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 1:00 2:00 pm
In room 517 Allen Hall

Undergraduate TAs (UTAs): Natalie Isenbserg and Harry OByrne

3. Physics Resource Room

4. Academic Resource Center
5. Appointment with Lecturer or TA.

Resources for Help

Resource Room, 312 Thaw Hall (staffed by
graduate student teaching assistants of the
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy)
Academic Resource Center, G1 Gardner
Steel Conference Center (free peer tutoring).
If you wish to hire a private tutor, contact the
Physics departmental office, 100 Allen Hall

Undergraduate Teaching Assistants Needed

If you earned a grade of A+ or A in Physics 0174
and are interested in working as an
undergraduate teaching assistant (UTA), contact
Hannah Sweetser at the Physics office as soon as
possible (100 Allen Hall).

Courseweb Site
On the Courseweb site, you will (eventually) find:
Announcements
Course Syllabus

To access Courseweb, go to

Lecture Slides

http://my.pitt.edu

Practice Exams
Equation Sheets for Exams
Exam Solutions
Grades

How your grade will be determined:

Exam 1:

100 points

Exam 2:

100 points

Comprehensive Final Exam:

150 points

Quizzes (Recitation Sections):

70 points

Homework (Webassign):

60 points

Lecture Participation (clickers):

20 points

Total: 500 points

7

Homework Assignment #1
Reading:
Chapters: 21, 22
Problems:
Go to Webassign, use course key found on Coursweb.
Try to log in within next 24 hours!
First homework due Sunday night!

Syllabus (see courseweb)

Course Outline (Approximate)

New force: the electrostatic force.
Electric current.
(Exam 1)
New force?: magnetism.
Connection between electricity and magnetism:
Maxwells Equations.
(Exam 2)
Traveling electromagnetic waves; light.
Some properties of light.
(Final)
10

Discover a new force: the Electrostatic Force

Rub:
Fur on Amber
Silk on Clear Plexiglass
Fur on PVC

Amber
Plexiglass
PVC

Amber

Plexiglass

PVC

Repels

Attracts

Repels

Repels

Attracts
Repels
11

Charge and the Electric Force

In analogy with the relationship between mass and
gravitational attraction, we associate this new force, called
the electrical force, with a property we shall call charge.
Experiments show that there are two kinds of electric
charge, which we shall call positive (+) and negative (-).
The choice of which type of charge is positive is arbitrary.
The convention was introduced by Ben Franklin. He made
an unfortunate choice.
For our experiments, rubbing amber with fur places a
negative charge on it.

12

Unfortunate Choice of Sign

The choice of which
type of charge is
positive is arbitrary.
The convention was
introduced by Ben
Franklin. He made an
unfortunate choice.
An uncorrectable
problem?
See comic from
xkcd.com

13

Properties of Electric Charge

Units: Coulomb (defined in terms of electric current).
Charge is quantized.
Elementary Particles: proton, electron, neutron,
e = 1.60x10-19 C 1 C 6x1018 fundamental charges.
Charge is conserved.
Coulombs Law: Force between two point charges.

14

Halliday, Resnick and Walker: Problem 21-57

What is the total charge in coulombs of 75.0 kg of electrons?

15

Halliday, Resnick and Walker: Problem 21-57

What is the total charge in coulombs of 75.0 kg of electrons?

16

Coulombs Law
F
k

k q1q 2
r2
1
4 0

8.99 109

0 8.85 10 12

N m2
C2

C2
N m2

inverse square law

attractive for unlike charges, repulsive for like charges
direction: along the line joining the charges
Newtons 3rd Law action-reaction pair:

F12 F21

Superposition of forces

17

Vector Nature of Coulombs Law

18

What is the direction of the electrostatic force on charge +q?

a)
b)

c)
d)
e) none of the above

19

What is the direction of the electrostatic force on charge +q?

a)
b)

c)
d)
e) none of the above

20

10

Two uniformly charged spheres are firmly fastened to and

electrically insulated from frictionless pucks on an air table.
The charge on sphere 2 is three times the charge on sphere 1.
Which force diagram correctly shows the magnitude and
direction of the electrostatic forces?

21

Demo: Charged Balloons

11

Three pithballs are suspended from thin threads. Various

objects are then rubbed against other objects (nylon against
silk, glass against polyester, etc.) and each of the pithballs
is charged by touching them with one of these objects. It is
found that pithballs 1 and 2 repel each other and that
pithballs 2 and 3 repel each other. From this we can
conclude that
a) 1 and 3 carry charges of opposite sign.
b) 1 and 3 carry charges of equal sign.
c) all three carry charges of the same sign.
d) one of the objects carries no charge.
e) we need to do more experiments to determine the sign of
the charges.
24

12

What is the electric force acting on charge q3?

Q2
a)
4 0 2a 2
1

b) zero
Q2
c)
4 0 2a 2
1

Q2
d)
4 0 a 2
1

e) none of the above

q1 2Q

q 3 Q

q 2 Q

25

Halliday, Resnick and Walker: Problem 21-10

Three particles are fixed on an x axis. Particle 1 of charge q1 is at x = -a,
and particle 2 of charge q2 is at x = +a. If their net electrostatic force on
particle 3 of charge +Q is to be zero, what must be the ratio q1/q2 when
particle 3 is at (a) x = +0.500a and (b) x = +1.50a?

26

13

Halliday, Resnick and Walker: Problem 21-10

Three particles are fixed on an x axis. Particle 1 of charge q1 is at
x = a, and particle 2 of charge q2 is at x = +a. If their net
electrostatic force on particle 3 of charge +Q is to be zero, what
must be the ratio q1/q2 when particle 3 is at (a) x = +0.500a and
(b) x = +1.50a?

Halliday, Resnick and Walker: Problem 21-10

Three particles are fixed on an x axis. Particle 1 of charge q1 is at
x = a, and particle 2 of charge q2 is at x = +a. If their net
electrostatic force on particle 3 of charge +Q is to be zero, what
must be the ratio q1/q2 when particle 3 is at (a) x = +0.500a and
(b) x = +1.50a?

14

Classification of Materials
Electrical Properties
Conductor: charges can move around relatively
freely in material.
Typically negative charges (electrons) move.
Insulator (or nonconductor): charges are not
able to move around within the material.
Charge may still be present.

29

Charging of Objects
Separation of Charges

rubbing insulating objects

contact, e.g., conductor to conductor
induction (and grounding)

Demos: electrophorous, electroscopes, charging by contact, charge separation

30

15

Charging by Induction
Use of Grounding

Fig.b

Fig.a

Connection to
ground

Demo: charging by induction

31

A positively charged object is placed close to a conducting object attached

to an insulating glass pedestal (a). After the opposite side of the
conductor is grounded for a short time interval (b), the conductor
becomes negatively charged (c). Based on this information, we can
conclude that within the conductor
a) both positive and negative charges move freely.
b) only negative charges move freely.
c) only positive charges move freely.
d) We cant really conclude anything.

32

16

Halliday, Resnick and Walker: Problem 21-13

In Fig. 21-26a, particles 1 and 2 have charge 20 C each and are held at
separation distance d = 1.50 m. (a) What is the magnitude of the
electrostatic force on particle 1 due to particle 2? In Fig. 21-26b, particle 3
of charge 20.0 C is positioned so as to complete an equilateral triangle.
(b) What is the magnitude of the net electrostatic force on particle 1 due to
particles 2 and 3?

33

Halliday, Resnick and Walker (9th Ed.): Problem 21-17

In the figure, particles 1 and 2 have charge 20.0 C each and are held at separation
distance d = 1.50 m.
(a) What is the electrostatic force on particle 1 due to particle 2?
(b) In Fig. (b), particle 3 of charge 20.0 C is positioned so as to complete an
equilateral triangle. What is the magnitude of the net electrostatic force on
particle 1 due to particles 2 and 3?

17

Importance of the Coulomb Force

Combined with quantum mechanics, the
Coulomb force is responsible for:
chemical binding
stability of matter
electrical neutrality of matter

35

18