FIITJEE LTD

NARAYANGUDA
PHYSICS-II
IPE NOTES - 2023

CHAPTER 4
ELECTRIC CHARGES AND FIELDS

VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. What is meant by the statement ‘charge is quantized’?
Ans. The minimum charge that can be transferred from one body to the other is equal to the
charge of the electron (e = 1.602 x 10-9C). A charge always exists an integral multiple of
charge of electron (q = ne). Thus, charge is said to be quantized.

2. Repulsion is the sure test of charging than attraction. Why?

Ans. A charged body may attract a neutral body and an opposite charged body. But it always
repels a like charged body. Hence repulsion is the sure test of electrification.

3. How many electrons constitute 1C of charge?

q 1
Ans: n   6.25  1018 electrons.
e 1.6  10 19

4. What happens to the weight of a body when it is charged positively?

Ans. When a body positively charged it must lose some electrons. Hence weight of the body will
decrease.

5. What happens to the force between two charges if the distance between them is
a) halved b) doubled?
2
1 F2 d12 d 
Ans: From coulombs law, F     F2   1  F1 where d is the distance between
d2 F1 d 22  d2 
two point-charges.
a) When distance is reduced to half,
2
d 
F2   1  F1  F2   2  F1  F2  4F1
2

d
 2
Force increases four times, i.e., increases by a factor 4.
b) When distance is doubled, then force is reduced by four times,
2 2
d   1 F
F2   1  F1  F2    F1  F2  1
 d2  2 4
Force decreases to one-fourth the original value, i.e., decreases by a factor 4.

6. The electric lines of force do not intersect. Why?

Ans. They do not intersect because if they intersect, at the point of intersection, intensity of electric
field must act in two different directions, which is impossible.

7. Consider two charges + q and -q placed at B and C of an equilateral triangle ABC. For
this system, the total charge is zero. But the electric field (intensity) at A which is
equidistant from B and C is not zero. Why?
Ans. Charges are scalars, but the electrical intensities are vectors and add vectorially.
8. Electrostatic field lines of force do not form closed loops. If they form closed loops
then the work done in moving a charge along a closed path will not be zero. From the
above two statements can you guess the nature of electrostatic force?
Ans. Electrostatic field force is a conservative force, just as gravitational field force.

9. State Gauss’s law in electrostatics.

1
Ans: Gauss’s law: It states that ‘the total electric flux through any closed surface is equal to
0
times net charge enclosed by the surface’
  q
 E.ds 
0

10. When is the electric flux negative and when is it positive?

 
Ans: Electric flux   E  A  EA cos  is a scalar product of the electric field vector and the area
vector.  
If angle  between E and A is obtuse, i.e., 90 C    180 C , then flux will have a negative
sign.  
If angle  between E and A is acute, i.e., 0 C    90 C , then flux will have a positive
sign.

11. Write the expression for electric intensity due to an infinite long charged wire at a
distance radial distance r from the wire.

Ans: The electric intensity due to an infinitely long charged wire E  in a direction
2 0 r
perpendicular to the conductor.
Where  = uniform linear charge density
r = distance of the point from the conductor

12. Write the expression for electric intensity due to an infinite plane sheet of charge.

Ans. The electric intensity due to an infinite plane sheet of charge is E 
2 0

13. Write the expression for electric intensity due to a charged conducting spherical shell
at points outside and inside the shell.
Ans: a) Intensity of electric field at any point inside a spherical shell is zero.
E  0 for 0  r  R
b) Intensity of electric field at any point outside a uniformly charged spherical shell is
1 q
E for r  R
4 0 r 2
c) Intensity of electric field at any point on the surface a uniformly charged spherical shell is
1 q
E for r  R
4 0 R 2

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. State and explain Coulomb’s inverse square law in electricity.

Ans: Coulomb’s law – statement:
Force between two charges is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between them. The force acts along the straight
line joining the two charges.

Explanation:
  
Let us consider two charges q1 at r1 and q2 at r2

separated by a distance r  r21 as shown in figure.
Then according to Coulomb’s Law,
F  q1q2 and
1
F
r2
q1q2
That is, F 
r2
1 q1q2 1
F  . where  9  109 Nm 2C 2
4 0 r 2 4 0
 0  8.85  1012 C 2 / N  m 2 , is called permittivity of
free space.
In vector form, in free space, the force acting on q1 exerted by q2 is
 1 q1q2  
F 12  rˆ21 . Here rˆ21 is a unit vector in the direction of  r1  r2  and
4 0 r 2
the force acting on q2 exerted by q1 is
 1 q1q2  
F 21  rˆ12 . Here rˆ12 is a unit vector in the direction of  r2  r1 
4 0 r 2

The force between like charges, (i.e., q1q2  0 ) is repulsive and the force between unlike
charges, (i.e., q1q2  0 ) is attractive.
1 q1q2 1 qq
In a medium, Fm    1 2 2     0 r 
4 r 2
4 0  r r
Where  is called permittivity of the medium

2. Define intensity of electric field at a point. Derive an expression for the intensity due to
a point charge.
Ans. Intensity of electric field (E):
Intensity of electric field at any point in an electric field is defined as the force experienced by
a unit positive charge placed at that point.
1) Intensity of electric field is a vector.
2) Consider a point charge q at rest at A as shown in
figure. Electric field will exist around that charge.
3) Consider a test charge q0 placed at P in that
electric field at a distance r from the given charge in the direction of a unit vector rˆ .
 1 qq0
4) Force acting on q0 due to q is F  . rˆ
4 0 r 2
5) Intensity of electric field at that point is equal to the force experienced by a unit positive
charge.

 F
Thus, intensity of electric field, E 
q0
Therefore, the intensity of electric field due to a point charge is,
 1 q
E . rˆ N/C or V/m
4 0 r 2

3. Derive the equation for the couple acting on an electric dipole in a uniform electric
field.
Ans. 1) A pair of equal and opposite charges q and –q, separated by a distance 2a is called dipole.
 
2) The dipole moment vector p of an electric dipole is defined as p   q  2a  pˆ
3) It is a vector whose magnitude is charge q times the separation 2a (between the pair of
charges q, –q) and the direction is along the line from –q to q.
 
Consider a permanent dipole of dipole moment p in a

uniform external field E , as shown in figure.
(By permanent dipole, we mean that p exists irrespective
  
of E ; it has not been induced by E .) There is a force qE

on q and a force qE on –q. The net force on the dipole is

zero, since E is uniform.
However, the charges are separated, so the forces act at different points, resulting in a torque
on the dipole.
When the net force is zero, the torque (couple) is independent of the origin. Its magnitude
equals the magnitude of each force multiplied by the arm of the couple (perpendicular
distance between the two antiparallel forces).
Magnitude of torque    qE  2a sin    2qa  E  sin  pE sin
Its direction is normal to the plane of the paper.
Thus, the couple (or torque) vector of an electric dipole in a uniform electric field is expressed
as
  
  pE ,
a vector product of the electric dipole moment vector and the electric field vector.
 
Its direction is normal to the paper (the plane containing the vectors p and E ), coming out of
it in accordance with the right-hand thumb rule of a vector product.

4. Derive an expression for the intensity of the electric field at a point on the axial line an
electric dipole.
Ans. Electric field at a point on the axis of a dipole:

Let the point P be at distance r from the centre of

the dipole on the side of
the charge q, as shown in figure.
Then
 q
Eq   pˆ
4 o  r  a 
2

where ˆp is the unit vector along the dipole axis (from –q to q).
 q
Also, E  q  pˆ
4 o  r  a 
2

   q  1 1 
The total field at P is, E  E q   Eq     pˆ
4 o   r  a  2
 r  a  
2

  
q  4ar  pˆ
E
 
4 o  r 2  a 2 2 
 
For r  a
 q  4a  2p
E  3 
pˆ  pˆ  p  2qa 
4 o  r  4 o r 3
 
2p
E 
4 o r 3

5. Derive an expression for the intensity of the electric field at a point on the equatorial
plane of an electric dipole.
Ans: Electric field intensity on equatorial line of electric dipole:
 Let the point P be at distance r from the centre of the dipole along
the perpendicular bisector (equatorial
 plane) of the line joining the
two charges of the electric dipole p , as shown in figure.
Then
 q
E q  directed toward –q
4 o r 2  a 2  
And
 q
E q  directed away from –q

4 o r 2  a 2 
The magnitudes are equal.
But the directions are different and as shown in figure.
From symmetry the components E q sin and E q sin  normal to the dipole axis cancel
away.
And the components Eq cos  and Eq cos  along the dipole axis add up to give,
  

E  E q  E  q cos   
2q
4 o r 2  a 2 
cos

2q a


4 o r  a 2 2
 r 2
 a2 
p

 
32
4 o r  a 2
2

The total electric field is opposite to p̂

 p
E pˆ
 
32
4 o r  a 2 2

 
p
E  
 
32
4 o r 2  a 2
At large distances, i.e., for For r  a
 
p
E
4 o r 3

6. State Gauss’s law in electrostatics and explain its Importance.

Ans. Gauss’s law:
1
The total electric flux through any closed surface is equal to times the net charge
0
enclosed by the surface.
  q
Total electric flux, 
 S E  d s  0
Here q is the total charge enclosed by the surface S,  S represents surface integral of the
closed surface.

Importance:
1) Gauss’s law is very useful in calculating the electric field in case of problems where it is
possible to construct a closed surface. Such surface is called Gaussian surface.
2) Gauss’s law is true for any closed surface, no matter what its shape or size.
3) Symmetric considerations in many problems make the application of Gauss’s law much
easier.
4) Gauss’s law is often useful towards a much easier calculation of the electrostatic field
when the system has some symmetry. This is facilitated by the choice of a suitable
Gaussian surface.
5) Finally, Gauss’s law is based on the inverse square dependence on distance contained
in the Coulomb’s law. Any violation of Gauss’s law will indicate departure from the
inverse square law.