1.

ELECTROSTATICS
(PAGE NUMBER 7 TO 13)

1. Why a charged comb attracts an uncharged piece of paper with greater force even though the piece of
paper is attracted downward by the Earth.
 The electrostatic force between two bodies is always greater than the gravitational force between them.
 The electrostatic force between charged comb and unchaged piece of paper is much stronger than
gravitational force between earth and piece of papers.
 Hence, a charged comb attracts an uncharged piece of paper with greater force even though the piece
of paper is attracted downward by the Earth.
2. State superposition principle.
 According to this superposition principle, the total force acting on a given charge is equal to the vector
sum of forces exerted on it by all the other charges.
 The total force acting on the charge q1 due to all other charges is given by
tot q1q2 qq qq qq
F1 k 2
rˆ21 1 2 3 rˆ31 1 2 4 rˆ41 .... 1 2 n rˆn1
r21 r31 r41 rn1
3. Define electric field at a point.
 The electric field at the point P at a distance r from the point charge q is the force experienced by a
unit charge and is given by
1 q
E rˆ
4 o r2
 Its unit is N C-1.
4. What are the directions of electric field produced by a positive and negative charges?
 If the charge q is positive then the electric field points away from the source charge and if q is
negative, the electric field points towards the source charge q.

5. State Coulomb’s law interms of electric field.

 If the electric field at a point P is E , then the force experienced by the test charge qo placed at the
point P is
 F = qo E .
6. Is the electric field depend on both test charge and source charge?
 No. The electric field is independent of the test charge qo and it depends only on the source charge q.
7. How does the electric field at a point at a distance from source charge vary?
1 q
 E rˆ
4 o r2
 If distance increases, the electric field decreases in magnitude.
8. Explain the magnitude and direction of electric field at three different points around (i) a positive
charge and (ii) a negative charge at different distances.
 In Figures (a) and (b) the length of the electric field vector is shown for three different points.
 The strength of magnitude of the electric field at point P is stronger than at the points Q and R because
the point P is closer to the source charge.

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9. Does the test charge modify electic field of the source charge?
 No. In the definition of electric field, it is assumed that the test charge qo is taken sufficiently small,
so that bringing this test charge will not move the source charge.
 In other words, the test charge is made sufficiently small such that it will not modify the electric field
of the source charge.
1 q
10. Is this expression E rˆ valid for continuous and finite charge distribution?
4 o r2
1 q
 No. The expression E rˆ is valid only for point charges.
4 o r2
 For continuous and finite size charge distributions, integration techniques must be used.
 However, this expression can be used as an approximation for a finite-sized charge if the test point is
very far away from the finite sized source charge. We similarly treat the Earth as a point mass when we
calculate the gravitational field of the Sun on the Earth.
11. Distinguish between uniform and non uniform electric fields.
UNIFORM ELECTRIC FIELD NON - UNIFORM ELECTRIC FIELD
It has the same direction and constant magnitude at It has different directions or different magnitudes
all points in space. or both at different points in space.
Ex: The electric field inbetween two oppositely Ex: The electric field created by a point charge.
charged plane sheets.

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

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 NUMERICAL PROBLEMS:
12. Two small sized identical equally charged spheres, each having mass 1 mg are hanging in equilibrium
as shown in the figure. The length of the each string is 10 cm and the angle θ is 7o with the vertical.
Calculate the magnitude of the charge in each sphere.(Take g = 110 ms-2)

Solution:

13. Calculate the electrostatic force and gravitational force between the proton and the electron in a
hydrogen atom. They are separated by a distance of 5.3 × 10-11 m. The magnitude of charges on the
electron and proton are 1.6 × 10-19 C. Mass of the electron is me = 9.1 × 10-31 kg and mass of proton is
mp = 1.6 × 10-27 kg.

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 Solution:

14. Consider four equal charges q1,q2,q3 and q4 =q = +1𝝁C located at four different pointson a circle of
radius 1m, as shown in the figure. Calculate the total force acting on the charge q 1 due to all the other
charges.

Solution:

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Note:
Formulae:
qq 1 q1q2
1. F 1 2 2 or F
r 4 o r2
1 q
2. E rˆ
4 o r2
3. F = qo E

Numerical data:
1. e = 1.6 x 10-19C
1
2. k = = 9x109 Nm2C-2
4πε o

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