Chapter 21

Electric Charge and Electric

Field

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 21.1 Electric Charge

An object can be charged by rubbing

- it possess a net electric charge

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Electric charge comes in
two types:
• positive and negative
• like charges repel and
unlike/opposite charges
attract
• convention due to
Benjamin Franklin
(1700’s)

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 Electric Charge and the structure of matter

The simplified model of an

atom:
• Nucleus: small, massive, protons
(positively charged), neutrons
(uncharged) – 10-15 m
• Electron cloud: large, very low
density, electrons (negatively
charged) – 10-10 m from nucleus
• Protons and electrons have
same magnitude of electric
charge, but opposite signs

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Atoms are electrically neutral.
• have no net charge - equal number of protons and electrons
• if it has a net positive or negative charge it is called an ion
• gain/loss of electron is called ionization

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Macroscopic bodies:

• electrically neutral (total charge = 0) - equal number of

protons and electrons in whole body
• to be negatively charged (excess of negative charge) – add
-ve charges/remove +ve charges to/from neutral body
• to be positively charged (excess of positive charge) – add
+ve charge/remove -ve charge

“positively charged body” is one that has lost some of

its normal complement of electrons
“negatively charged body” is one that has gained some
extra electrons

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The law of conservation of electric charge

The net amount of electric charge produced in

any process is zero
OR
In any charging process, electric charge is not
created or destroyed, it is transferred from one
body to another
OR
The arithmetic sum of all the electric charges in
any closed systems is constant.

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 21.2 Insulators, Conductors and
Induced Charges
Conductors Insulators
Charge flows freely Almost no charge flows
Metals - copper Most other materials - glass

Some materials are semiconductors (eg. Silicon)

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Metal objects can be charged by conduction:

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They can also be charged by induction:

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Insulators or non-conductors
do not become charged by conduction or induction,
but will experience charge separation.
(effect is called polarization)

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Application: The electrostatic painting process:

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 21.3 Coulomb’s Law

Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1784):

The magnitude of the electric force
between two point charges is directly
proportional to the product of the charges
and inversely proportional to the square of
the distance between them.

repulsion attraction
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The SI unit of charge: coulomb, C
The proportionality constant in Coulomb’s law is:

The charge on the electron is negative and

has magnitude (elementary charge):

• charge on electron = -e
• charge on proton = +e
Electric charge is quantized in units
of the electron charge.

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The proportionality constant k can also be written
in terms of ε0 , the permittivity of free space.
Coulomb's law is then:

where

and, we use

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The Principle of Superposition of Forces:
for multiple point charges, the forces on each charge
from every other charge can be calculated and then
added as vectors.

The net force on a charge is the vector sum of all the

forces acting on it.

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Example: Force between two point
charges
Two point charges, q1 = +25 nC and
q2 = -75 nC are separated by a distance
of 3.0 cm. Find the magnitude and
direction of

a) the electric force that q1 exerts on q2

b) the electric force that q2 exerts on q1.

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Example: Vector addition of electric forces on a line (1)
Two point charges are located on the positive x-axis of a
coordinate system. Charge q1 = 1.0 nC is 2.0 cm from the
origin, and charge q2 = -3.0 nC is 4.0 cm from the origin. What
is the total force exerted by these two charges on a charge
q3 = 5.0 nC located at the origin ?

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Example: Vector addition of electric forces on a line (2)

Ans:

(Tipler, W. H. Freeman & Co.) 23

Example: Vector addition of electric forces in a plane (1)
Two equal positive point charges q1 = q2 = 2.0 C interact with
a third point charge Q = 4.0 C. Find the magnitude and
direction of the total (net) force on Q.

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 21.4 Electric Field and Electric Forces
How do charged particles interact in empty space?
How do they know the presence of each other?
What goes on in the space between them?

• Body A produces an electric field at P as a

consequence of the charge on body A only

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• Place test charge q0 at P – if q0 feels an electric
force, then there is an electric field at that point
• The electric field is the intermediary through
which A communicates its presence to q0
• The electric field that A produces exists at all
points in the region around A

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Definition: The Electric Field
The electric field at a point is the electric force
experienced by a test charge q0 at that point divided
by the charge q0.

• electric force per unit charge

• SI unit is N/C
• force exerted on q0 by an
electric field:

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Note:

• force exerted by q0 on A may cause the charge

distribution on A to be shifted
• electric field around A may be different if q0 is
present
• if q0 is very small, redistribution of charge on A is
also very small
• therefore, correct definition of electric field is:

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Some terminology:

unit vector

source
point field
point

Reminder (from mechanics):

unit vector

where

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 field created by +ve charge
q at P points away from q in
the same direction as

field created by -ve charge

q at P points toward q in the
opposite direction from

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 magnitudes:

The vector equation for the electric field of

a point charge :

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• E-field varies from point to point – is an infinite set
of vector quantities → vector field
• field strength decreases with increasing distance

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Example: Electric-field vector for a point charge
A point charge q = -8.0 nC is located at the origin. Find the
electric-field vector at the field point x = 1.2 m, y = -1.6 m.

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Example: Electron in a uniform E-field (1)
Consider a uniform E-field set up by the configuration below.
The two horizontal parallel conducting plates are a distance 1.0
cm apart and are connected to a 100 V battery. The magnitude of
the E-field created is E = 1.00 x 104 N/C and points vertically
upwards. (neglect gravitational forces)
a) If an electron is released from rest at the upper plate, what is
its acceleration?
(electron: charge -e = -1.60 x 10-19 C and mass m = 9.11 x 10-31 kg)

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Example: Electron in a uniform E-field (1) ........ continued

b) What speed and kinetic energy does it acquire while

travelling 1.0 cm to the lower plate?
c) How much time is required for it to travel this distance?
(electron: charge -e = -1.60 x 10-19 C and mass m = 9.11 x 10-31 kg)

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Example: Electron in a uniform E-field (1) ........ continued

d) If an electron is launched into the E-filed with an initial

horizontal velocity v0, what is the equation of its
trajectory?

Parabolic trajectory of an electron in a uniform E-field

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Example: Electron in a uniform E-field (2)

Ans:

(Tipler, W. H. Freeman & Co.) 14

Example: Electron in a uniform E-field (3)

Ans: (a) Fe/Fg=

(b) y=

(Tipler, W. H. Freeman & Co.) 15

 21.5 Electric-Field Calculations
• in realistic situations charge is distributed over space
• distribution made up of many point charges
q1, q2, q3 . . . .
• at each point P, each charge produces its own electric
field E1, E2, E3 . . .
• so test charge q0 placed at P experience forces
F1, F2, F3 . . . due to q1, q2, q3 . . . .

charge distribution
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 q0
P

test charge at P
charge distribution

From superposition principle, total force F0 that

charge distribution exerts on q0 :

Total electric field E at point P :

(principle of superposition of electric fields)

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Illustrating the principle of superposition of E-fields:

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Example: Superposition of Electric-fields

Ans: (a)
(b)

(Tipler, W. H. Freeman & Co.) 19

 Different charge distributions:
line charge distribution
 = linear charge density (charge per unit length, C/m)

surface charge distribution

 = surface charge distribution (charge per unit area, C/m2)

volume charge distribution

 = volume charge density (charge per unit volume, C/m3)

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Example: Field of an electric dipole (1)
Point charges q1 = 12 nC and q2 = -12 nC are placed 10 cm apart.

Compute the E-field caused by

q1, the field caused by q2, and
the total field
a) at point a;
b) at point b; and
c) at point c

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Example: Field of an electric dipole (2)

Ans: (a)

(b)

(Tipler, W. H. Freeman & Co.) 22

Example: Field of a ring of charge
A ring-shaped conductor with radius a carries a total charge Q
uniformly distributed around it. Find the E-field at a point P
that lies on the axis of the ring at a distance x from its centre.

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Example: Field of a line of charge
Positive electric charge Q is distributed uniformly along a line
with length 2a, lying along the y-axis between y = -a and y = +a.
Find the E-field at P on the x-axis at a distance x
from the origin.

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Example: Field of a uniformly charged disk
Find the E-field caused by a disk of radius R with a uniform
positive surface charge density , at a point along the axis of
the disk a distance x from its centre.

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Example: Field of two oppositely charged sheets
Two infinite plane sheets are placed parallel to each other,
separated by a distance d. The lower sheet has a uniform
positive surface charge density , and the upper sheet has a
uniform negative surface charge density - with the same
magnitude. Find the E-field between the sheets, above the
upper sheet and below the lower sheet.

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 21.6 Electric Field Lines
Help in the visualization of electric fields:
• electric fields can be represented by electric field
lines at various points in space
• it is an imaginary line or curve drawn through a
region of space so that its tangent at any point is in
the direction of the electric field vector at that point

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• These lines start on a positive
charge and end on a
negative charge
• The number of field lines
starting (ending) on a positive
(negative) charge is
proportional to the magnitude
of the charge
• The electric field is stronger
where the field lines are
closer together
• only one field line can pass through each point of the
field - field lines never intersect

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Different electric field
line configurations

an electric dipole
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 21.7 Electric Dipoles
An electric dipole is a pair of point charges with equal
magnitude and opposite charge separated by a distance d.

Water molecules (H2O) behave like electric dipoles:

net positive charge
• it is electrically neutral
• chemical bonds cause a
displacement of charge
• is an excellent solvent

net negative charge

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 Force and Torque on an Electric Dipole
Consider an electric dipole in a uniform electric field E

• the net force on it is zero

• different line of action implies torques
don't add to zero

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Let's calculate the torque:
• w.r.t. centre of dipole
• lever arm for both
forces is
• torque for both forces is

• magnitude of the net torque:

• is directed into the page since both torques rotate
the dipole clockwise
• product of q and d is the magnitude of the electric
dipole moment, denoted by p:
(unit of C.m)
• is a vector, direction along axis of dipole (-ve to +ve)
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In terms of p, the magnitude of the net torque is:

• this is a vector product between vectors p and E :

• use right-hand rule to get direction of the torque

• torque is greatest when p is perpendicular to E
• is zero when p and E are parallel or anti-parallel
• torque always tends to turn p to line up with E
•  = 0 (p ∥ E) ⇒ position of stable equilibrium
 =  (p anti-∥ E) ⇒ position of unstable equilibrium

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When the dipole changes direction in an E-field, the
torque does work on it.
Work: for an infinitesimal displacement
• torque is in direction of decreasing  implies

In a finite displacement from 1 to 2 the total work

done on the dipole is

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Potential energy for a dipole in an E-field:
• work is the negative of the change in potential energy

• potential energy can therefore be defined as

scalar product

• U is minimum at  = 0 (p ∥ E)  U = -pE
• U is maximum at  =  (p anti-∥ E)  U = +pE
• U is zero at  = /2 (p  E)  U = 0

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Example: Force and torque on an electric dipole
Consider an electric dipole in a uniform E-field with magnitude
5.0 x 105 N/C. The two charges are of magnitude 1.6 x 10-19 C
and are separated by a distance of 0.125 nm. Find

a) net force exerted by the field

on the dipole
b) the electric dipole moment
c) the torque
d) potential energy of the system

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