Andres La Rosa

Portland State University

Lecture Notes
PH-212

ELECTROMAGNETISM
magnets in motion
produce current

1820 Oersted
charges
in motion
Charges
in motion
produces
magnetism magnetism
produce

moving
magnet

bulb

wire

switch

Electrostatic

ELECTRICITY

ELECTRICITY

MAGNETISM

MAGNETISM

ELECTROMAGNETISM
ELECTROMAGNETISM

Maxwell
equations

Maxwell
equations

predicts that

light is an electromagnetic
wave

Unification
theories

Einstein

Electromagnetism

Electricity

Magnetism

Gravitation

Classical Mechanics
(Newton's laws

Electricity

Magnetism

Electromagnetism

Quantum Mechanics

Quantum
Electrodynamics

The Electric Charge

(-)

(+)
The terms "positive" and "negative" are arbitrary
Typically atoms are neutral; i. e.

Charges of the same sign

repeal each other

Negative

Charges of opposite sign

attract each other

Negative

Negative

Positive

MATERIALS
Most solids are crystalline, i.e. its atoms are arranged in is
a structural periodic array.
The crystalline arrangement is referred to as a crystal
lattice

Nucleus
Electrons

. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
CRYSTAL

LATTICE

CONDUCTORS
Materials that contain free" electrons)
Crystal's
energy level
Atom's
energy level
Electrons in the crystal's
energy levels are free
to wander across the metal

What happens when a voltage is applied across a metal?

The "free" electrons travel across the crystal, jumping from atom to
atom. On average, the move with a velocity termed "drift velocity"

Open question: Can you estimate the value of the electrons' drift velocity
in a metal?

INSULATORS
Materials that do not contain free" electrons
Crystal's
energy level

Atom's
energy level

Insulator

Material with no free"

electrons available

What happens when a voltage is applied across the

insulator material?
+V ( Voltage from a
battery )

No macroscopic translational
motion of charges
At most, charges
+
+
+
re-distribute inside
Positive charges position to the left side of the atom,
each atom

while
negative charges position to the right side of the atom.

The electric charge is quantized

Charge induction
Example

Example

Hollow
metallic
shell

+ induced +
+

negative charges

Initial:
Neutral shell

induced positive
charges
+q2

-- - -

- +

-q1
+Q

- - - -+

+
+

+ a point
Charge distribution after
harge +Q is placed at the
center of the shell,

The electric charge is conserved

Example: Charge induction and the protection of

electronic equipment
Metallic shell

Electronic
circuit

Atoms that lost

their free electrons

COULOMB'S LAW
(2)
(1)

q1 (+)

q2 (-)

(3)

What is the orientation of the

electrical; force acting on the
charge q2?
Could it be (1), (2), (3), or else?

q2 (-)
Answer :

q1 (+)

Quantitative aspect of the

Coulomb's law
We know that

What is new is the

following

r
r: distance between the
charges 1 and 2

Coulomb's Law

Definition of the unit charge: The COULOMB

When the distance between two point charges (of equal

magnitude) is 1 meter,
q
q

(+)

F
(+)

1m
and they repeal with a force of magnitude equal to

Then we say that each charge has an electrical

charge equal to
q = 1 Coulomb

When q1 = q2= 1 Coulomb and they are

apart a distance d= 1meter, the electrostatic
force they exert to each other is 9 x 109
Newtons.

FORCE is a VECTOR

magnitude

orientation

Given a line, let's find a UNIT

VECTOR parallel to that line

RECIPE
1 Pick up any two points A and B along the line

2 Evaluate

the

vector

Evaluate

the

magnitude of

3 The

vector

will be a unit vector

oriented along the specified line. That is,

Example.

Calculate the electrostatic force F21 exerted on the charge

q2 due to the charge q1.

cm

cm

a) Evaluation of the magnitude of the force

F= 180 Newtons
b) Evaluation of the orientation of the force
Strategy

Find the proper

UNIT VECTOR

The 4 forces in nature

Checkpoint 1 (page 564)

Repeal or attract
each other ?

About the notation of forces

About evaluating the force components: When to use SIN or COS

The principle of superposition

if Q2 were not present.

+ qo

if Q1 were not present

+ qo
Answer:

METHOD-1 Finding the total force

acting on a point-charge
Y (cm)

What is the total

force acting on
qo?

qo

q2

q1

X (cm)

Magnitude

Unit
vector
Magnitude

How to evaluate the proper unit vector?

Y (cm)

qo

q1

q2
X (cm)

Answer

For example :

5 cm

(no units)

Therefore,

We can apply a similar procedure to calculate

Y (cm)

= Fo2

qo

q2

q1
-3

-2

-1 0

X (cm)

How to find
R2 is a vector that start at the
position of qo and ends at the
position of q2.

5 cm

F02

F02

Newtons

Newtons

METHOD-2 Finding the total force

acting on a point-charge
Exploit symmetry, if applicable
Y (cm)

qo
q2

q1

X (cm)

F2

q1

F1

qo
q2

Y (cm)

qo
q1

q2
X (cm)

Y (cm)

F1

qo
q1

F2

q2
X (cm)

What to do when the charge distribution (Q) lacks

symmetry?

Method:
Break down the total charge into
small point-charges (see mesh in the
figure).
Evaluate the interaction between q
and the different small charges.
Then add up all those individual
forces