Electrostatics

01
 Today’s Goal
Properties of Charge

Coulomb’s Law

Principle of Superposition
Electric charge
Charge is an intrinsic property of matter which give
rise to electric force between various objects.

Symbol → q or Q
S.I Unit → Coulomb(C)
Scalar Quantity

Types of charge → +ve and –ve

Like charges repel each other & unlike charges attract

each other
Properties of Charge

1. Charge is transferable

2. Charge is associated with mass

3. Charge is invariant (do not vary with speed of body)

4. Conservation of Charge:
Charge can neither be created, nor be destroyed but
only be transferred from one body to another.
OR
The total charge of an isolated system remains constant.
Quantisation of Charge
i. The smallest charge which exists
independently is charge on electron.
1e- =1.6x10-19 C [fundamental charge]
ii. Charge always exist in Integral multiple of
fundamental charge
1e- , 2e- , 3e-, 4e-,……. ne
-1e- , -2e- , -3e-, -4e-,……. ne
Methods of Charging
1. Charging by Conduction
2. Charging by Induction

3. Charging by Friction
Coulomb’s Law
1. 𝑭𝟏𝟐 = −𝑭𝟐𝟏
𝑲𝒒𝟏𝒒𝟐
2. F= 𝟐
𝒓
𝟏
3. K= 𝜺 → 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎
𝟒𝝅𝜺
4. for air/free space/vacuum
𝟏
K= 𝜺𝒐 → 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚
𝟒𝝅𝜺𝒐
5. F acts along line joining two charge
(central Force)

6. Coulomb’s Law valid for point charges

7. Coulomb’s Law valid for stationary charges

𝟏
8. F follows inverse square Law F∝
𝒓𝟐
9. Electrostatic force is a Conservative Force
➢ Work done depends only on initial & final position

➢ Work done in a round trip by electrostatic force is

Zero.
Q) A charge Q is divided into two parts such that the
electrostatic force between two parts is maximum.Find the
charge on each part.
𝑸 𝟑𝑸 𝑸 𝟒𝑸
a) ,
𝟒 𝟒
c) ,
𝟓 𝟓

𝑸 𝑸 𝑸 𝟐𝑸
b) ,
𝟐 𝟐
d) ,
𝟑 𝟑
Comparison with Law of Gravitation
𝑲𝒒𝟏𝒒𝟐 𝑮𝒎𝟏𝒎𝟐
𝑭𝒆 = 𝑭𝑮 =
𝒓𝟐 𝒓𝟐
Similarity:
𝟏
➢ both follows 𝑭 ∝ 𝟐(Inverse Square Law)
𝒓
➢Acts along line joining centre of bodies
Difference:
Q) Find the ratio of electrostatic force to gravitational force
between two electrons kept in free space.
1e=1.6x10-19 C me=9.1x10-31 kg
K=9x109 Nm2/C2 G=6.67x10-11 Nm2/kg2

a) 1012
b) 1024
c) 1032
d) 1042
Q) Two identical small charged spheres, each having a mass
‘m’, hang in equilibrium as shown. The length of each string
is l, and the angle made by any string with the vertical is θ.
Find the magnitude of charge on each sphere.
Principle of Superposition
➢ If there are 3 or more charges, then net force on any
one charge is vector sum of all forces on it due to
remaining charges
Q) Three equal charges (q) are placed at corners of an
equilateral triangle. The force on any charge is:

𝟑𝑲𝒒𝟐
a) 𝒂𝟐
√𝟑𝑲𝒒𝟐
b) 𝒂𝟐
√𝟑𝑲𝒒𝟐
c) 𝒂𝟑
√𝟑𝑲𝒒
d) 𝒂𝟐
Q) Four equal point charges each ‘q’ are placed on the four
corners of a square of side ‘a’ . Calculate the force on any one
of the charges.

𝑲𝒒𝟐
a) 𝒂𝟐𝟐 (2+√2)
𝑲𝒒
b) 𝒂𝟐𝟐 (2+1/√2)
𝑲𝒒
c) 𝒂 𝟐 (√2+1/2)

d) None of these
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