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Key Question:
How do electric charges
interact?
Electric Charge
All ordinary matter contains
both positive and negative
charge.
You do not usually notice the
charge because most matter
contains the exact same
number of positive and
negative charges.
An object is electrically
neutral when it has equal
amounts of both types of
charge.
Electric Charge
Objects can lose or gain electric
charges.
The net charge is also sometimes
called excess charge because a
charged object has an excess of
either positive or negative charges.
A tiny imbalance in either positive
or negative charge on an object is
the cause of static electricity.
Electric Charge
Electric charge is a property
of tiny particles in atoms.
The unit of electric charge
is the coulomb (C).
A quantity of charge should
always be identified with a
positive or a negative sign.
Electric forces
Electric forces are created between all electric charges.
Because there are two kinds of charge (positive and negative)
the electrical force between charges can attract or repel.
Electric current
The direction of current was historically defined as the
direction that positive charges move.
Both positive and negative charges can carry current.
In conductive liquids (salt
water) both positive and
negative charges carry
current.
In solid metal conductors,
only the electrons can move,
so current is carried by the
flow of negative electrons.
Electric current
Current is the movement of electric charge through a
substance.
Constant
9 x109 N.m2/C2
Force
(N) F = K q1 q2 Charges (C)
r2
Distance (m)
Coulomb's Law
The force between two
charges gets stronger as the
charges move closer
together.
The force also gets stronger
if the amount of charge
becomes larger.
Coulomb's Law
The force between two
charges is directed along
the line connecting their
centers.
Electric forces always occur
in pairs according to
Newton’s third law, like all
forces.
Coulomb's Law
The force between charges is
directly proportional to the
magnitude, or amount, of
each charge.
Doubling one charge doubles
the force.
Doubling both charges
quadruples the force.
Coulomb's Law
The force between charges is
inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between
them.
Doubling the distance reduces
the force by a factor of 22 = (4),
decreasing the force to one-
fourth its original value (1/4).
This relationship is called an
inverse square law because force
and distance follow an inverse
square relationship.
Fields and forces
The concept of a field is used to describe any quantity that
has a value for all points in space.
You can think of the field as the way forces are transmitted
between objects.
Charge creates an electric field that creates forces on other
charges.
Fields and forces
Mass creates a gravitational field that exerts forces on
other masses.
Drawing the electric field
Key concepts: Gaussian Surface, Flux,
Enclosed Charge
Gauss’s Law is proposed by
German mathematician Carl
Friedrich Gauss.
Gauss’s Law
Gauss’s law for the electric field describes the
static electric field generated by a distribution
of electric charges. It states that the electric
flux through any closed surface is proportional
to the total electric charge enclosed by this
surface
The Gauss' Law is used to find electric field when the
charge is continuously distributed within an object with
symmetrical geometry, such as sphere, cylinder, or plane.
Gauss’s Law gives us an alternative to
Coulomb’s Law for calculating the
electric field due to a given distribution
of charges.
The meaning of flux is just the number of
field lines passing through the surface.
Accelerators
An electric field can be
produced by maintaining a
voltage difference across any
insulating space, such as air or a
vacuum.
Electric fields are used to create
beams of high-speed electrons
by accelerating them.
Electron beams are used in x-ray
machines, televisions, computer
displays, and many other
technologies.
Electric shielding
Electric fields are created all around
us by electric appliances, lightning,
and even static electricity.
These stray electric fields can interfere
with the operation of computers and
other sensitive electronics.
Many electrical devices and wires that
connect them are enclosed in
conducting metal shells to take
advantage of the shielding effect.
Capacitors
A capacitor is a storage device for electric charge.
Capacitance
(coulombs/volt)
Charge
(C) q = CV Voltage (volts)
Key Question:
How does a capacitor work?
A conservative force “gives back” work that has been done against it