Definition of Terms

Module 1: Electric Charges, Induction, Conduction and Coulomb’s Law

 Charging by Conduction- occurs when a charged object comes into contact

with a neutral object.
 Charging by Induction- method of charging an object without physically
touching it to another charged object.
 Coulomb’s Law- a law stating that opposing charges repel and similar charges
attract, with a force proportional to the product of the charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between them
 Conductors- materials the allow electrons to flow freely from particle to particle
 Electrically charge- objects that have imbalance number of protons and
electrons
 Electrons- negatively charged subatomic particles
 Electrostatic Force- an example of non-contact forces or those that pull or push
on objects without actually contacting them.
 Insulators- materials that block the flow of electron from particle to particle
 Negative Charge- a charge that an object carries when it contains more
electrons
 Neutral- objects that typically have equal number of protons and electrons
 Neutrons- neutrally charged subatomic particles
 Positive Charge- a charge that an object carries when it contains more protons
 Protons- positively charged subatomic particles
 Static Electricity - a fixed electric charge caused by friction that creates sparks
or crackling or attracts dust or hair
 Van de Graaff generator- an electrostatic-accelerator used in science
investigations to achieve high voltages in a short period of time while maintaining
a high safety factor
Module 2: Electric Force, Electric Field, Electric Flux, Gauss Law

 Electric field- a physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles and
exerts force on all other charged particles in the field, either attracting or repelling
them
 Electric Flux- property of an electric field that may be thought of as the number
of electric lines of force (or electric field lines) that intersects a given area
 Field Line- A graphical technique for viewing vector fields. It is made up of a
directed line that is perpendicular to the field vector at each point along its length.
 Gauss’s Law- a law stating that the electric flux across any closed surface is
proportional to the net electric charge encompassed by the surface
 Gaussian Surface- a three-dimensional closed surface through which the flux of
a vector field is computed; typically, electric field, magnetic field, the gravitational
field

Module 3: Electric Force, Electric Field, Electric Flux, Gauss Law

 Electric Potential- the amount of work energy required to transport a unit of

electric charge in an electric field from a reference point to a particular point
 Electric Potential Difference- also known as voltage, it is the external work
required to move a charge from one spot to another in an electric field.
Additionally, it is the change in potential energy experienced by a test charge
with a value of +1
 Electric Potential Energy- the amount of energy required to move a charge
against an electric field
 Equipotential- refers to an area of space in which every point has the same
electric potential.
 Equipotential Lines- the places where electric potential is constant in two
dimensions
  Equipotential Surfaces- the places where the electric potential is constant in
three dimensions
 Reference Point- a location or object used for comparison to establish whether
or not something is in motion

Module 4: Capacitance and Dielectrics

 Capacitance- a measure of the capacity of storing electric charge for a given

potential difference
 Capacitor- a device that stores electrical energy, particularly electrical potential
energy, in an electric field
 Dielectric- an insulating material or an extremely weak conductor of electric
current
 Parallel Connection- components linked in parallel are connected via multiple
routes and since the components are connected in parallel, the circuit divides the
current flow
 Parallel Plate Capacitor- a type of capacitors which that have an arrangement
of electrodes and insulating material (dielectric).
 Polarized Capacitor- a type of capacitor that has implicit polarity, which means it
can only be connected in one way in a circuit.
 Resistor- a device that has been intended to block the passage of an electric
current
 Series Connection- components linked in series are connected along a single
electrical route and the same amount of current runs through all of its
components.
 Standard Capacitor- a capacitor that is built in such a way that its capacitance
value does not fluctuate with temperature and is known to a high degree of
precision.
 Terminal Voltage- it is the potential difference across the terminals of a load
when the circuit is turned on