EG1501 Electronics Design

Coulombs Law Electric Force Electric Field

Coulomb's Torsion Balance

This dial allows you to adjust and measure the torque in the fibre and thus the force restraining the charge

This scale allows you to read the separation of the charges

Coulombs Experiments

F Line Fwr-2

Coulomb's Law
Coulomb determined Force is attractive if charges are opposite sign Force is proportional to the product of the charges q1 and q2 along the lines joining them Force inversely proportional to square of the distance i.e. |F12| w |Q1| |Q2| / r122 or |F12|= k |Q1| |Q2| / r122

Coulomb's Law
Units of constant can be determined from Coulomb's Law Coulomb (and others since) have determined this constant which (in a vacuum) in SI units is k = 8.987.5x109 Nm2C-2 k is normally expressed as k = 1/(4TI0) Where I0 is the permittivity of free space

Vector form of Coulombs Law

F12
r12 + Q2 -

F12

r12
+

F21

Q1 +

F21

Quiz
Object A has a charge of +2 QC and Object B has a charge of +6 QC. Which statement is true?
FBA?
A +2 QC

FAB?
B +6 QC

A: FAB=-3FBA B: FAB=-FBA C: 3FAB=-FBA D: FAB=12FBA

Force from many charges

Q2 -

F41
Q1 +

F21

F31

Q3

Principle of superposition

+ Q4

Force on charge is vector sum of forces from all charges

F1 ! F21  F31  F41

Electric Field
Electric Field E is defined as the force acting on a test particle divided by the charge of that test particle

F F E! Q0
r
Q

E
+Q0

Thus Electric Field from a single charge is

1 Q E! r 2 4TI 0 | r |

Representation of the Electric Field

Electric Field Lines

Representation of the Electric Field

We choose to represent the electric field with lines whose direction indicates the direction of the field

Notice that as we move away from the charge, the density of lines decreases These are called Electric Field Lines

Drawing Electric Field Lines

The lines must begin on positive charges (or infinity) The lines must end on negative charges (or infinity) The number of lines leaving a +ve charge (or approaching a -ve charge) is proportional to the magnitude of the charge electric field lines cannot cross

Drawing Electric Field Lines: Examples

From Electric field vectors to field lines

Field lines from all angles

Field lines representation

Quiz: The field direction

A charge +q is placed at (0,1) A charge q is placed at (0,-1) What&is the direction of the field at (1,0) &
A) i  j & & B) i  j & C)  j & D) i

Superposition & Electric Field

F0 !

Superposition & Electric Field 1 Q Q QQ

4TI 0 r01 | |
0 1 2

r01 

r02 | r02 |

2 2

1 E! 4TI 0

Q1 Q2 r  r 2 02 2 01 | | r02 | r01 |

1 E! 4TI 0

Qi | r |2 ri i i

E1
r2
r1

r1
Q1

E2

Q2