Professional Documents
Culture Documents
UNIT 13 Electric Fields I
UNIT 13 Electric Fields I
The charge on the ebonite and the charge on the glass are not the same kind.
The object that becomes positive loses a tiny fraction of its huge number of electrons.
The object that gains these electrons becomes negative.
A “normal sized” neutral body has a huge positive charge and a huge negative charge.
These charges are evenly distributed throughout it and exactly balance.
Materials that do not allow easy movement of electric charge through them or over their
surfaces are called insulators. Examples are: nearly all non-metals, nearly all organic
compounds (particularly plastics), ceramics, pure water, and gases under normal to high
pressure. There is however no sharp boundary between conductors and insulators. Any
insulator will conduct if the electrical forces are large enough and a material may be
considered a conductor in some circumstances and an insulator in others.
+ +
+ + + + + + +
+ ++
+ + + +
+ + + ++
+ +
+ +
+ +
+
No charge on inner surface No charge inside Charge concentrates where
radius is small
___ by the
_ other
+
(negative) body that
is close to it.
The induced dipole is now attracted to the net charge that induced it because the
unlike charges are closer.
Charging by Induction
An initially uncharged insulated conductor may be charged by induction using a body
(conductor or insulator) that is already charged to move electrons in the conductor.
Two similar bodies
conductor
+ + __ +
+ + _ A +
+ + +
insulating stand
_ +
+ +_ A B +
+ + _ +
+ +
+ + __ +
+ + A B +
_ +
+ +
The Electroscope
Moving Vane Type Foil Leaf Type
The top plate, central
rod and leaves/moving
vane are electrically
– ––––– – connected – that is – –––– –
– – –
they behave as a single
conductor insulated
from the case by the
plug at the top. When
+
+ + the electroscope is + +
+ + charged or polarised as + +
+ shown the leaves or
+ + + +
vane opens because + +
+ like charges repel.
We can charge the electroscope by contact or induction just like any other conductor.
Charging by Induction
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
+ + ++ + + ++ + _+ _+ _+_
__ _ _ _ ___ e- s _
+ +
+ +
Example 1
A like charge, an unlike charge and a neutral conductor are brought in turn up to a charged
electroscope. How does the electroscope behave in each case? How can the electroscope
be used to determine the nature of an unknown charge?
q 1q 2 q 1q 2
F or F ke
r2 r2
From the above it follows that k has to be found experimentally i.e. measured.
For vacuum and near enough for most practical purposes air
1
For reasons of later mathematical convenience ke is written as
40
Where 0 = 8.85 10-12 C2 m-2 N-1 is called the permittivity of free space (vacuum)
Hence Coulomb’s law becomes (in vacuum and near enough for most purposes air)
Coulomb’s law is of the same mathematical form as Newton’s law of gravitation. Just
as a spherical body’s mass may be considered concentrated at its centre, if the charge
is on a conducting sphere then as far as points outside the sphere are concerned fields
and forces are the same as if all the charge were concentrated at the centre.
Use the Coulomb’s law equation to find the magnitude of vector F. It is simpler not to
try to use the + and signs (of charges) to find directions. Attraction and repulsion are
not in themselves directions.
To get the direction of F use the fact that like charges repel and unlike charges
attract. Draw a diagram to help you if you have any doubt.
If several charges are present, add forces to find the resultant by vector addition.
Electric Fields
Electric fields are places where electric charges experience electrical forces.
Just as we can think of a mass as being surrounded by a gravitational field, we can think of
a charged body as being surrounded by an electric field. With charge there is an additional
complication – there are two kinds of charge.
The electric field (or electric field strength or electric intensity) at a point is the electric
force per unit positive charge experienced by a small test charge placed at that point.
E (N C-1) F F
By definition E (Compare with g )
F (N) q m
+ q (C)
Hence when a charge q is placed in an electric field E that is
caused by other charges it experiences an electric force
F=qE
1 Q
The magnitude of E is given by E
4 0 r 2
2 For each charge, work out direction and magnitude of its electric field at the
place you are interested in.
A +4 nC N
0.4 m X
Example 2 0 45 0
45
0.3 m 0.3 m
Find the resultant electric field at X.
B 3 nC C 2 nC
Magnitudes
9
1 Q 9) 4 10
EA = . = (9 10 = 225 N C1
4 0 r2 ( 0.4) 2
Similarly EB = 300 N C1 and EC = 200 N C-1
+ X EA Finding Resultant E
45 0 EA
450
EC EC
EB
Er
EB
Magnitude and direction of E follow from the vector-diagram. Scale drawing or use of
components would be convenient. Calculation using a “whole vector” diagram would be
rather tedious.
Answer 390 N C-1 E 66o S (you should confirm this for
yourself) 390 N C-1 E 66o S
A line of electric flux is an imaginary line whose shape is such that the electric field is
tangential to it. To each flux line we add an arrow to show its general direction.
Lines of flux cannot cross – otherwise the field would have two directions at the
point of intersection.
Lines of flux are shown more closely spaced where the field is stronger.
Lines of flux must meet conducting surfaces at right angles under electrostatic
conditions.
Examples
The field around a point charge is radial and has an intensity which obeys an inverse
square law:
+ -
The field between parallel oppositely-charged conducting plates is uniform and has
the same intensity and direction everywhere (except at extreme ends):
+
– Battery to charge
the plates
A Dipole
+ ―