20 Static Electricity

2 Electrostatic Force
MAINIDEA
Write the Main Idea for this lesson.

REVIEW VOCABULARY Recall and write the definition of the Review Vocabulary term.
force force

NEW VOCABULARY Use your book to fill in the term that matches each definition.

charging a neutral object by bringing a charged object near it

charging a neutral object by touching that object with a charged object

a device that is used to detect electric charges and consists of a metal

knob connected by a metal stem to two thin metal leaves

magnitude of the charge of a single electron or proton

process of removing excess charge by connecting an object to Earth

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SI standard unit of charge

states that the magnitude of the force between point charge qA and
point charge qB , separated by a distance r, is proportional to the product
of the magnitudes of the charges and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them

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 2 Electrostatic Force (continued)
Student Edition, pp. 553–555 Write four statements about the actions of charged rods when they are
brought near each other.

Sketch two pictures showing a negatively charged electroscope when

a negatively-charged rod is brought near, and when a positively-charged
rod is brought near.

Negatively charged rod Positively charged rod

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GET IT? Explain what happens when you bring a positively charged
rod near a negatively charged electroscope.

Explain how an object can be neutral, but still attract or repel a charged
piece of tape.

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2 Electrostatic Force (continued)
Student Edition, pp. 555–558 Describe the process of charging two neutral metal spheres by
induction.

Explain Why doesn’t Earth become charged through grounding?

Evaluate In the following circumstances how does electrostatic force

change?

Change in set up Change in FE

The distance between two

charged spheres doubles

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The charge on one sphere
doubles

The charge on both spheres

doubles and the distance
between them also doubles

Determine If the positive charge on a neutral sphere is 3×107 C, what is

the negative charge?

Fill in the blanks in the following sentence.

The electrostatic force is a quantity, which means that it has
both and . Coulomb’s law tells you the
. To determine the , you can draw a
diagram using force vectors.

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 2 Electrostatic Force (continued)
Student Edition, p. 559 TRY IT!
Use with Example Problem 1. Problem
COULOMB’S LAW IN TWO DIMENSIONS Sphere A, with a charge
Use this column for of −5.0 μC, is located 3.0 cm to the left of sphere B, with a charge of
scratch work and +3.0 μC.
sketches. a. What is the force of sphere B on sphere A?
b. A third sphere, C, with a +2.0-μC charge, is added 5.0 cm directly
beneath A. What is the new net force on sphere A?
1. ANALYZE AND SKETCH THE PROBLEM
KNOWNS UNKNOWN
qA = rAB = = ?

qB = rAC = = ?

qC =    K = 9.0×109Nm2/C2 = ?

2. SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN

a. Find the force of sphere B on sphere A.
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b. To find the net force on sphere A, first find force of sphere C on

sphere A.

Find the vector sum of FB on A and FC on A to find Fnet on sphere A.

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2 Electrostatic Force (continued)
Student Edition, pp. 559–561 TRY IT! (CONTINUED)
Find the direction of the net force.

3. EVALUATE THE ANSWER

• Are your units correct?

• Do the signs make sense?

Assume What is an assumption you must make in order to apply

Coulomb’s law?

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List commercial and industrial applications that take advantage of
electrostatic forces.

Identify a situation in which it is important to avoid the accumulation of

electrostatic forces.

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 2 Electrostatic Force (continued)
SUMMARIZE
How does the MAINIDEA for this section relate to the chapter’s BIGIDEA?

REVIEW IT!
15. MAINIDEA Describe the relationship between the magnitude of the electrostatic
force, the charge on two objects, and the distance between the objects. What is the
equation for this relationship?

16. Force and Charge How are electrostatic force and charge related? Describe the force
when the charges are like charges and the force when the charges are opposite.
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17. Force and Distance How are electrostatic force and distance related? How would the
force change if the distance between two charges were tripled?

18. Charging by Induction In an electroscope being charged by induction, what happens

when the charging rod is moved away before the ground is removed from the knob?

19. Electroscopes Why do the leaves of a charged electroscope rise to a certain angle and
no farther?

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2 Electrostatic Force (continued)
20. Attraction of Neutral Objects What properties explain how both positively charged
objects and negatively charged objects can attract neutral objects?

21. Charging an Electroscope How can you charge an electroscope positively using
a positively charged rod? Using a negatively charged rod?

22. Electrostatic Forces Two charged spheres are held a distance r apart, as shown in Figure 15.
Compare the force of sphere A on sphere B with the force of sphere B on sphere A.

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+3 μC +9 μC
Sphere A + + Sphere B
r

Figure 15

23. Critical Thinking Suppose you are testing Coulomb’s law using a small, positively charged
plastic sphere and a large, positively charged metal sphere. According to Coulomb’s law,
the force depends on 1/r 2, where r is the distance between the sphere’s centers. As you
bring the spheres close together, the force is smaller than Coulomb’s law predicts. Explain.

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