Electric Charge - the physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when placed in an

electromagnetic field.

Electrostatics - the interactions between electric charges that are at rest (or nearly so).

*Like charges repel, and opposite charges attract…

Electron - negatively charged particle

Proton - positively charged particle

Neutron - uncharged particle

Quark - combination of other entities to form composite particle e.g. proton & neutron

Nucleus - a small, very dense core made up of proton & neutron

Conductor - material that allows the flow of an electric current

Insulator - material whose electric charges do not flow freely; very little electric current will flow
through it under the influence of an electric field.
Induction - a redistribution of electrical charge in an object, caused by the influence of nearby charges.

Polarization - describes how a material responds to an applied electric field as well as the way the
material changes the electric field.

Coulomb’s Law - The magnitude of the electric force between two point charges is directly proportional
to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

q1q2 N  m2  7 N  s 2  2 m
F k ; k  8.988 109 ; k  10 2 
c ; c  2.998 108
r2 C 2
 C  s

C2 1
 0  8.854 1012 ; k
N  m 40
2

Fundamental unit of charge is the magnitude of the charge of an electron or a proton, denoted by e.

e  1.602 10 19 C ; e stands for the elementary charge

Sample problem

1. Two point charges, q1 = +25 nC and q2 = -75 nC, are separated by a distance r = 3 cm. Find the
magnitude and direction of the electric force (a) that q 1 exerts on q2 and (b) that q2 exerts on q1.

2. Two point charges are located on the x-axis of a coordinate system: q1 = 1 nC is at x = 2 cm, and q2
= -3 nC is at x = 4 cm. What is the total electric force exerted by q 1 and q2 on a charge q3 = 5 nC at
y = 3?
Test

1. Two balloons are charged identically; q = -6.25 nC, are held apart at a distance of 61.5 cm.
Determine the magnitude of the electrical force between them.

2. Two point charges, +2.34 µC and -6.78 µC attract to each other with a force of 0.055 Newton.
Determine the separation distance between the two charges.

3. The force between two identical charges separated by 1 cm is equal to 90 Newtons. What is the
magnitude of the two charges?

4. Two point charges, q1 = +8 µC and q2 = -5 µC, are separated by a distance r = 10 cm. What is the
magnitude of the electrical force?

5. Two charged particles, qA = +10 µC and qB = +20 µC, are separated by a distance r = 10 cm. What
is the magnitude of the electrostatic force?