PHYSICS REVIEWER • The charging by induction
4. Atoms usually have as many CHARGING BY process is where the charged
electrons as protons, so the atom CONTACT/FRICTION/ particle is held near an uncharged
Electrostatics
has zero net charge RUBBING conductive material that is
Electrons can transfer from one grounded on a neutrally charged
Electric charge is the CONSERVATION OF CHARGE material.
material to another through
fundamental quantity that simple touching.
underlies all electrical Charge is CONSERVED
phenomena. The terms positive Whenever something is charged, TRIBOELECTRIC CHARGING
and negative refer to electric NO electrons are created or
charge. destroyed. Electrons are simply ELECTRON AFFINITY
TRANSFERRED from one - property of electron affinity
positively charged particles in material to another. refers to the relative amount of
ordinary matter are protons, love that a material has for
o A charged atom is called an electrons
negatively charged particles ion.
are electrons. o A positive ion has a net TRIBOELECTRIC SERIES GROUNDING
positive charge. - important list of materials,
Accompanying protons in the which is created according to the process of removing the
o A negative ion, an atom with
nucleus are neutral particles the tendency of materials to excess charge on an object by
one or more extra electrons,
called neutrons. lose or gain electrons. means of the transfer of electrons
is negatively charged.
between it and another object of
Facts about atom substantial size.
CHARGING
GROUND
1. Every atom is composed of a
o We charge things by
positively charged nucleus object that serves as a seemingly
transferring electrons from
surrounded by negatively charged infinite reservoir of electrons.
one place to another.
electrons.
o We can do this by physical
contact, as occurs when
2. The electrons of all atoms are
substances are rubbed
identical. Each has the same
together or simply touched.
quantity of negative charge and
o we can redistribute the charge
the same mass.
on an object simply by putting CHARGING BY INDUCTION
3. Protons and neutrons make up a charged object near it-this is
called induction. • Charging method that charges
the nucleus. Neutrons have
an object without actually
slightly more mass than protons
touching the object to any other
and have no net charge.
charged object.
COULOMB'S LAW ELECTRIC FIELD LINES For the field lines to either
start or end at infinity, a single
• Coulomb's Law is a • an imaginary line or curve drawn GAUSS'S LAW
charge must be used.
mathematical description of the through a region of empty space.
- states that the electric flux ФЕ
electric force between charged
through a surface is related to
objects.
RULES FOR DRAWING the magnitude E of the
• It was formulated by the 18th- ELECTRIC FIELD LINES electric field, the area A of the
century French physicist Charles- surface, and the angle 0 that
Augustin de Coulomb. specifies the direction of the
The field line begins at field relative to the normal to
•It states that, for two charged
positive the charge and ends the surface.
objects that are much smaller
either at the negative charge MATHEMATICAL FORMULA
than the distance between them,
or at infinity.
the force between the two objects
When the field is stronger, the
varies directly as the product of
field lines are closer to each
their charges and inversely as the
other.
square of the separation distance.
The number of field lines
MATHEMATICAL FORMULA depends on the charge.
The field lines should never
crossover. GAUSS'S THEOREM
PROPERTIES OF ELECTRIC Electric field and electric field
FIELD LINES line are tangent at the point the Gauss theorem relates the
where they pass through. 'flow' of electric field lines
(flux) to the charges within the
The field lines never intersect GAUSS'S LAW enclosed surface. If no
ELECTRIC FIELD each other. charges are enclosed by a
IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
The field lines are surface, then the net electric
- Electrical force per unit of perpendicular to the surface •Electric flux is property of an flux remains zero.
charge. of the charge. electric field that may be thought This means that the number
- The field can be considered to The magnitude of charge and of as the number of electric field of electric field lines entering
be an "aura" surrounding the number of field lines, both lines of force (or electric field the surface equals the field
charged objects and is a are directly proportional to lines) that intersect a given area. lines leaving the surface.
storehouse of electric energy each other. Any charges outside the
The start point of the field surface do not contribute to
lines is at the positive charge the electric flux.
and end at the negative
charge.
Consider an infinite plane sheet
with charge density σ. Now,
consider a cylindrical surface that
encloses the plane. The plane
cuts the imaginary cylinder at its
center. The symmetry of the
situation dictates that the electric
field must be perpendicular to the
cross-section of the cylinder and
the plane.
1. POINT CHARGE USING
SPHERICAL SYMMETRY
Suppose a point charge +q rests
in space. Consider a sphere of
radius r that encloses the charge
such that it lies at the center of
the sphere. From the symmetry of
the situation, it is evident that the
electric field will be constant on
the surface and directed radially
outward.
2. PLANE CHARGE USING
PLANAR SYMMETRY
