Electricity

Lecture 04
 Electric Charge

After passing the plastic comb through the hair a few times, the comb can
exert a force on individual strands of hair.

The attraction between the comb and the hair is a result of some physical
entity being transferred from one to the other when they rub together.
 Electric Charge (Contd.)
It is physical entity.
The property of a proton or an electron
which gives rise to electrostatic force
between them is known as Electric Charge
and

The transfer of this electric charge between the comb

and the hair is on the basis of electrons that can be
removed from the atoms of one object and attached to
the atoms of the other object.
What is static electricity?
When two objects rub against each other electrons
transfer and build up on an object causing it to have a
different charge from its surroundings.
Like the shoes rubbing against the carpet. Electrons are
transferred from the carpet to the shoes.
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/balloo
ns-and-static-electricity/latest/balloons-and
-static-electricity_en.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc2-36
3MIQs
What is electricity?
The collection or flow of
electrons in the form of
an electric charge
What is static electricity?
When two objects rub against each other electrons
transfer and build up on an object causing it to have a
different charge from its surroundings.
Like the shoes rubbing against the carpet. Electrons are
transferred from the carpet to the shoes.
As electrons collect on an object, it becomes negatively
charged. As electrons leave an object it attains a positive
charges. Charges interact with each other:
Often when you remove clothes from
the clothes dryer, they seem to stick
together. This is because some of the
clothes have gained electrons by
rubbing against other clothes. The
clothes losing electrons become
positive. The negative clothes are
attracted to the positive clothes.

Have you ever rubbed a balloon on your hair and stuck it

on a wall? How do you think this works?
The van de Graaf generator (large silver ball) deposits
electrons on the ball. When a person places their hand on
the ball and the machine is turned on, electrons are
transferred to and collected on the person touching the silver
ball.
Why do you
think this
machine
affects the
hair of the
children in the
picture?
What causes you to be shocked when you rub your feet
across carpet?

An electrical discharge is the passing of an electric

current through the air from a negatively charged object
to a positively charge object. This is what causes
lightning!
Attractive & Repulsive Forces
By charging an object (i.e. transferring charge to it), it
can exert a force on another charged object.

This force can be attractive or repulsive.

Therefore, there are two kinds of electrical charges,

attractive and repulsive.
 Attractive/ Repulsive Forces
(Contd.)
• Let us charge a glass rod by rubbing one end of it with
silk and then suspend it from a thread.

• If we place a similarly charged glass rod nearby, the two

rods will repel each other.

• However, if we place a charged plastic rod (rubbed with

fur) nearby, the two rods will attract each other.
Attractive/ Repulsive Forces
Attractive/ Repulsive Forces
Therefore, it can be summarized that:

“Charges of the same sign repel one

another and charges of the opposite sign
attract one another.”
 Charge Properties
• The net charge of an object is usually represented by q.
• The charge is a scalar quantity.
• It can be positive or negative depending on whether the
object has a net positive or negative charge.
• Electric charge is measured in Coulombs (C).
• 1 Coulomb charge = 6 x 1018 electrons.
Check out these static electricity video
clips
• Van de Graaf Generator’s effect on human hair
• Static on Baby’s hair
• Kid gets static going down a slide

What is a conductor and insulator?

A conductor is a material which allows an electric current to pass.
Metals are good conductors of electricity.
An insulator is a material which does not allow an electric current
to pass. Nonmetals are good conductors of electricity. Plastic,
glass, wood, and rubber are good insulators
 Conductors
Electrical conductors are materials in which
some of the electrons are free electrons
• Free electrons are not bound to the atoms
• These electrons can move relatively freely through the
material
• Examples of good conductors include copper, aluminum
and silver
• When a good conductor is charged in a small region, the
charge readily distributes itself over the entire surface of
the material
 Insulators
Electrical insulators are materials in which
all of the electrons are bound to atoms
• These electrons can not move relatively freely through
the material
• Examples of good insulators include glass, rubber and
wood
• When a good insulator is charged in a small region,
the charge is unable to move to other regions of the
material
Charging by Contact and by Induction
Charging by Contact – Conduction:
charging an object by contact with a charged object.
 Charging by Contact – Conduction
negative object touched to a neutral object.

Before touching After touching

neutral negative

5+ 2+
5- 8-
0 6-
 Charging by Contact – Conduction
negative object touched to a neutral object
 Charging by Contact – Conduction
-positive object touched to a neutral object
 Charging by Contact – Conduction
-positive object touched to a neutral object
Charging by Induction
• Consider a conducting rod (copper rod)
hanging with an insulating thread. Copper
rod is neutral as it contains equal number
of electrons and protons.
• In the presence of plastic rod if we connect
the rod to ground with a conducting wire.
• Only electron can move, therefore the
electrons will move away to ground through
the wire.
• Now disconnect the wire while plastic rod is
present.
• The copper wire will get positively charged.
 Charging by Induction
Similarly, if a positively charged glass rod is
brought into contact with a neutral copper
rod:

Electrons will flow from the copper rod to

neutralize the positive charges of the glass.

However because the electrons do not flow

through the glass, they can neutralize only
those positive charges at the point of contact
with the copper.
 Charging by Induction
Now if we attach a wire between the positive
end of the copper rod and ground, electrons
will flow from ground to neutralize the positive
charges in the copper.

Leaving the glass rod in place, if we then

remove the connection to ground, the copper
rod retains a net negative charge.

If we then remove the glass rod the negative

charges will distribute themselves over the
surface of the copper
 Charging by Induction
This method of charging an object is called Charging
by Induction.

We have been able to use the positively charged glass

rod to transfer either positive charge to the copper by
contact or negative charge (from ground) by induction.
 Coulomb’s Law
Coulomb's law states that:
"The mutual force existing between two point charges at
rest varies directly as the product of the charges, and
inversely as the square of the distance between them. The
force is along the straight line joining them.“

If the two charges have the same sign, the electrostatic

force between them is repulsive; if they have different sign,
the force between them is attractive.
Coulomb’s Law – Gives the electric force between
two point charges.
q1q2 Inverse Square
F k
r2 Law
k = Coulomb’s Constant = 9.0x109 Nm2/C2
q1 = charge on mass 1
q2 = charge on mass 2
r = the distance between the two charges

The electric force is much stronger than the gravitational

force.
Or

where ϵ0 is known as the “permittivity of free

space”
Permittivity is a property of a material that is
indicative of how well it supports an electric
field.
Example 1
Two charges are separated by a distance r and have a force
F on each other. qq
F k 1 2
F r2 q2 F
q1
r
If r is doubled then F is ?
If q1 is doubled then F is ?
If q1 and q2 are doubled and r is halved then F is ?
 Answers
• If r is doubled then F is: ¼ of F

• If q1 is doubled then F is : 2F

• If q1 and q2 are doubled and r is halved then F is :

16F
Example 2
Two 40 gram masses each with a charge of 3μC are placed 50cm
apart. Compare the gravitational force between the two masses
to the electric force between the two masses.
3μC 3μC
40g 40g

50cm
 m1m2
Fg  G
r2
(.04)(.04)
 6.67  10 11
2
 4.27  10 13 N
(0.5)

q1q2
FE  k 2
r
6 6
9 (3  10 )(3  10 )
 9.0  10  0.324 N
(0.5) 2
The electric force is much greater than the
gravitational force
 Practice Problems
• P-1: Suppose that two point charges, each with a
charge of +1.00 Coulomb are separated by a distance
of 1.00 meter. Determine the magnitude of the
electrical force of repulsion between them.
 P-1Solution
• Will they charges attract or repel?
– Repel!
• What is the magnitude of the force
between them?
– F=
– F= (8.99 x 109 )(+1.00C)(+1.00C) / (1.0m)2
– F= 8.99 x 10 9 N
 Practice Problems
• P-2: Two balloons are charged with an identical
quantity and type of charge: -6.25 nC. They are held
apart at a separation distance of 61.7 cm. Determine
the magnitude of the electrical force of repulsion
between them.
 Practice Problems

• P-3: Two balloons with charges of +3.37 µC and -8.21

µC attract each other with a force of 0.0626 Newton.
Determine the separation distance between the two
balloons.
 Practice Problems
• P-4:  At what distance of separation must two 1.00-
microCoulomb charges be positioned in order for the
repulsive force between them to be equivalent to the
weight (on Earth) of a 1.00-kg mass?
 Practice Problems
• P-5: Two charges, one twice as large as the other, are
located 15cm apart and experience a repulsive force
of 95 N. What is the magnitude of the larger charge?
 Self Study

Static electricity and its applications