1.

IONS AND NEUTRAL ATOMS

1.1. NET CHARGE
The atom is made up of a nucleus, which in turn is made up of protons and neutrons. Each
proton has a charge of +1.60 x 10-19 Coulombs (C); however, since this fundamental charge is
the smallest unit of charge, we often write qe = 1.60 x 10-19 C and say that protons have a charge
of +qe or +1. A neutral atom has the same number of electrons as protons. Electrons are
negatively charged and each has a charge of–qe or -1 (-1.60 x 10-19 C).
Neutrons no charge
Protons +1
Electrons -1
Carbon – which is number 6 on the periodic table – has 6 protons, 6 neutrons and 6 electrons. If
we add up the charge carried by all of the atomic components, we find
net charge = 6 (+1)+6(0)+6(-1) = 0
The net charge is the total charge of the atom after the contributions from protons and electrons
have been taken into account. An atom with no net charge is called a neutral atom.
Some atoms like acquiring electrons from other atoms, while some atoms are happy to give their
electrons to other atoms. Sodium (Na), with an atomic number of 11, has an outer shell (n=3)
with only one electron. If the Na atom loses its outer electron, the net charge becomes:
6(+1)+6(0)+5(-1) = +1
An atom with a nonzero net charge is called an ion.
Units: You see that the electron has a very small amount of charge relative to a C, so we often
write quantities in terms of mC (microCoulombs = 10-6 C) and nC (nanoCoulombs = 10-9 C)
EXAMPLE 1.1: Static electricity caused by friction produces about 1.00 mC of charge. How
many electrons is this? (micro = 10-6)
q = 1.00 x 10-6 C
qe = 1.60 x 10-19 C per electron
 electron 
1.00 x10−6 C  −19  = 6.25 x10 electrons
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 1.60 x10 C 

1.1.1. Transferring Charge.

- - - When atoms form solids, sharing
+ + + +
- + electrons is one way to form bonds
- - - between atoms. Metals allow their
valence electrons to wander, while
+ + + + +
- - insulators prefer to keep their electrons
- - close to their nuclei.
+ - + + + +
-
-
- -
-
+ + + - + + 1
-
Consider what happens when you shuffle your feet along carpeting. Initially, both the carpeting
and your feet are neutral. As we’ll see, objects like to be neutral. Shuffling creates friction
between your foot and the carpet. The carpet rubs electrons off your foot and collects them. This
leaves the carpet with excess electrons, giving it a net negative charge. Your foot has lost
electrons, and it is now positively charged.
Now – and this is important:
CHARGE IS NOT CREATED OR DESTROYED – ONLY TRANSFERRED
All the charge that started out on the foot and the carpet is still there after the foot acquires a
positive charge and
the carpet acquires a
negative charge. + + + +
Charge is - # electrons = # protons - # electrons < # protons - net

transferred from the - + + - + + positive charge

- - + + - - + +
foot to the
- - # electrons = # - - # electrons > #
carpeting, but no - - - +--+-+- +-
++
++

++
++
protons
- +-+ -+ + protons
net negative
new charges are - - + +
- -+ + - + + + + charge
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + -+ -+ + -+ +- + -+ -+- + -+ + +
created, nor are any - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
destroyed. The
same # of electrons
that are rubbed off
the foot appear on
the carpet.
I’m drawing only a few charges – in reality, a huge number of charges are transferred – about
1010 charges at a time. Another rule that will become important to you, now that you’re walking
around with a net positive charge is that
OBJECTS DON’T LIKE HAVING A NET CHARGE
Your foot would prefer to attract some extra electrons to make it neutral again. There are two
ways this can happen:
1) If it’s humid, water in the air can help neutralize unbalanced charges.
2) If it is not humid, there has to be a transfer of electrons from one object to another. If you
touch something metal with your foot, for example, electrons can jump from the metal to your
foot, thus neutralizing the positive charge your foot used to have. The process of electrons
jumping from the metal to your foot will also give you a shock.
The type of electricity produced by friction is called static electricity. In your dryer, clothes rub
against each other continuously. Dryer sheets, like Bounce, contain polar molecules to help keep
the charge of your clothes neutral, thus avoiding static electricity.
When you’re thinking about charges being transferred, remember that it is always the electrons
that are transferred – the nuclei stay in place and don’t get transferred. A net positive charge
means that there is a lack of electrons. A net negative charge means that there is an excess of
electrons.

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1.1.2. Attraction and Repulsion.
Another good example of static electricity with which you’re probably familiar is the electricity
produced when you rub a balloon on your hair. In this case, the electrons from the balloon are
attracted to your hair. After rubbing, your hair has a net negative charge and the balloon has a
net positive charge.
The balloon and the hair seem to attract each other. This is an illustration of another
fundamental property of charged things.
+ - attract
+ + repel
- - repel
If I rub a PVC rod with a paper towel, electrons leave the PVC and move onto the towel, so the
PVC is left with a net positive charge. If I take another PVC rod and do the same thing, both
rods are positively charged. When I bring them near each other, they repel. A similar effect is
found for negative charges, which leads us to another fundamental property of charges:
LIKE CHARGES REPEL: UNLIKE CHARGES ATTRACT
Historical Note: The assignment that electrons are negative and protons positive is totally
arbitrary - Ben Franklin decided on this convention and we’ve stuck with it. There is no reason
why we couldn’t have called the charge on an electron positive – but we didn’t.

1.2. CONDUCTORS AND INSULATORS.

+
+
+
--- +
+
+ + + - + + - +++ + + -- +
+ + -
- +
+ + ++ -- -
+ +
- +
+

Return to my example of shuffling your feet on the carpeting and touching something metal.
What would happen if you instead touched something wood? You won’t get a shock, or at least,

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not much of one. This is because there are some differences between different types of
materials.
In metals, the valence electrons are not tightly bound to the nuclei and they are free to move.
(This is what is responsible for electric current). If I have a + charge on my finger and I bring it
near a metal doorknob, the electrons are attracted to the + charges and move over toward the
finger. At some distance, the desire to be neutral is so great that electrons are transferred from
the metal to the hand.
This doesn’t happen if you touch rubber or wood. In an insulator – such as wood, plastic,
rubber, etc. – electrons are more closely bound to the nucleus, so the electrons can’t move as
easily. This results in there being fewer charges available for neutralization. This is why wire is
usually copper (although silver actually conducts electricity better, it is more expensive) and has
rubber or plastic on it as an insulator.
There are also materials that are in between conductors and insulators – we call them
semiconductors. Under the right conditions, they can conduct electricity, but not as well as
metals.

1.3. CONDUCTION AND INDUCTION

Lets consider the process by which things acquire charge. I’m going to use rods to symbolize
whatever objects we’re looking at.
There are two different ways to create a net charge:
induction
contact or conduction
Let’s say I have a rod with a net positive +
charge. When I bring this rod close to the + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + +
+-+-+ -+-- +- +-+ -+--+ -
+-+-+ -+ +-+ -+ -+ + -
neutral rod, the electrons in the neutral rod will
move toward the positive rod end. This leaves
+ - Induction
a positive charge at the other end of the rod, + + + + + + + + + --++----++--++---++ ++- ++-++ + + -
+ + + + + + + + + + +
where there aren’t enough electrons to
neutralize the nuclear charge. This process is
called charging by induction. The previously
neutral rod still has zero net charge, because no
electrons have been transferred; however, there
is now a charge separation so that one end of
the rod is more negative and the other end is
positive. (Again, the reason why the other end
is positive is because the electrons have all
moved down to the other side. No protons
move.)

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Now bring the two rods in contact – electrons
can’t move from one object to another without + + + + + + + + + +-+--+ -+-- +- +-+ -+--+ -
+ + + + + + + + + + -+ + -+ +-+ -+ -+ + -
the objects being in contact (or at least very - - ------
- -
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + -+ -+--+ -
very close) Electrons had already moved over + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + -+ -+ + -

by the end nearest the positive charge and they + + + + +- + +- + + + + + + + -+ -+--+ -+

+ + + + +--+--+- + --+- + + + + + -+ -+ + -+
now jump over to the positively charged rod. Conduction
This leaves a lack of electrons, which gives a
positive charge to the second rod. This is
called charging by conduction or contact.
You may have heard the term ‘ground’ in conjunction with electricity. You also hear ‘ground’
referred to as ‘Earth’ - because a real ground is often a long metal pipe stuck in the ground. The
Earth is so massive that it acts like a source or sink of electrons. You can deposit or withdraw
many electrons and not change the overall charge of the Earth because each electron makes a
miniscule contribution to the total charge. The third prong you see on plugs is a ground – it is
there because, if there is a need for the electrons that are being carried in the other two wires to
leave those wires, you want them to go somewhere other than your body. The ground plug helps
to funnel them safely away from people.

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1.3.1. Electroscope
The electroscope is a device that can - --
+
be used to tell if two things have the +
--++
same or different charges. (An - +
electroscope consists of a metal
electrode attached to two pieces of
----- ----- -----
foil. The contraption is usually -- -- --
placed in a glass bulb with a rubber - - -
- - - -
-- - --
stopper (why? - both glass and
rubber are good insulators of
- - -
-- --
electricity and isolate the system.) If
you charge the electroscope with a - - -
known charge (say by bringing a pvc
rod you’ve charged with a piece of
paper towel near it), you now have a known charge, let’s say a positive one. You can then take
your unknown charged object and bring it near. If the charge is the same as the one already on
the equipment, the leaves move further apart. If it is different, they will move closer together.

1.3.2. Electrophorus.
In the electrophorus, a sheet of acrylic is charged and the electrophorus is placed on top of the
sheet. When I touch the top of the electrophorus, charge is transferred from the plate to the
electrophorus. PVC rubbed with paper toweling charges the electrophorus positively. Acrylic
rubbed with polyethylene charges the electrophorus negatively. So I can choose which charge I
want to have on the paddle.
Charge one paddle positive and one negative, then take a piece of aluminum foil: the foil is
attracted to one of the paddles, but when the foil touches that paddle, it acquires the same charge
as the paddle and it immediately moves in the other direction. You can continue this because the
charge on the aluminum foil will continuously change as it hits each paddle.
How the Electrophorus Works: Rub the
acrylic plate vigorously with a polyethylene
bag. This will transfer electrons (negative
charges) to the plate. The situation looks as
shown to your left.
The plate has an overall negative charge after
rubbing. When you bring the electrophorous
close to the plate, the negative charge on the
Acrylic plate, after being rubbed with polyethylene bag plate drives the negative charge on the
electrophorous to the far side, and the positive
charges to the near side.

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 Now touch the top side of the metal plate of the
electrophorous with your finger. You will
likely feel a shock as the negative charge is
pulled from the surface of the electrophorous.
This is illustrated in Figure 2.

Acrylic plate, after being rubbed with polyethylene bag

Figure 3 shows the situation after the removal

of the charge. This can be demonstrated even
better using the small bulb in the
demonstration -- as the electrons move from
the electrophorous, the bulb will light briefly.

Acrylic plate, after being rubbed with polyethylene bag

When the electrophorous is removed from the

plate, the positive charges will redistributed
themselves all over the metal plate on both top
and bottom -- charges always try to get away
from each other.

Acrylic plate, after being rubbed with polyethylene bag