BBA2106: Basics in Natural Science

(FBA)

LECTURE

ELECTRIC FORCE AND ELECTRIC CHARGE

Ordinary matter consists of atoms. Each atom consists of a nucleus, consisting of
protons and neutrons, surrounded by a number of electrons. The masses of the
electrons, protons and neutrons are listed in Table 1. Most of the mass of the atom is due
to the mass of the nucleus.
Table 1: Masses and charges of the building blocks of atoms.

The diameter of the nucleus is between 10-15 and 10-14 m. The electrons are contained in a
roughly spherical region with a diameter of about 2 x 10 -10 m. Measurements of the
velocity of the orbital electrons in an atom have shown that the attractive force between
the electrons and the nucleus is significantly stronger than the gravitational force
between these two objects.
Electric Force (Fc) and Electric Charge:
The attractive force between the electrons and the nucleus is called the electric force.
Electric force between two objects is proportional to the inverse square of the distance
between the two objects. The electric force between two electrons is the same as the
electric force between two protons when they are placed at the same distance. This
implies that the electric force does not depend on the mass of the particle. Instead, it
depends on a new quantity is called electric charge. The unit of electric charge q is the
Coulomb (C). The electric charge can be negative, zero, or positive. The electric charge
on a glass rod rubbed with silk is positive.
Charge (q)

there are two kinds of charge, positive and negative

like charges repel, unlike charges attract
positive charge comes from having more protons than electrons; negative charge
comes from having more electrons than protons
charge is quantized, meaning that charge comes in integer multiples of the
elementary charge e
charge is conserved

What does it mean for charge to be quantized?

Charge comes in multiples of an indivisible unit of charge. In other words, charge comes
in multiples of the charge on the electron or the proton. These things have the same size

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charge, but the sign is different. A proton has a charge of +e, while an electron has a
charge of -e. Putting "charge is quantized" in terms of an equation, we say:
q=ne
q is the symbol used to represent charge, while n is a positive or negative integer, and e is
the electronic charge, 1.60 x 10-19 Coulombs.
The Law of Conservation of Charge
The Law of conservation of charge states that the net charge of an isolated system
remains constant. If a system starts out with an equal number of positive and negative
charges, theres nothing we can do to create an excess of one kind of charge in that
system unless we bring in charge from outside the system (or remove some charge from
the system). Likewise, if something starts out with a certain net charge, say +100 e, it will
always have +100 e unless it is allowed to interact with something external to it.
Electrostatic charging
Forces between two electrically-charged objects can be extremely large. Most things are
electrically neutral; they have equal amounts of positive and negative charge. If this
wasnt the case, the world we live in would be a much stranger place. We also have a lot
of control over how things get charged. This is because we can choose the appropriate
material to use in a given situation.
Conductor, Semi-conductor and Insulator
Metals are good conductors of electric charge, while plastics, wood, and rubber are not.
Theyre called insulators. Charge does not flow nearly as easily through insulators as it
does through conductors, which is why wires you plug into a wall socket are covered
with a protective rubber coating. Charge flows along the wire, but not through the coating
to you.
So, materials are divided into three categories, depending on how easily they allow
charge (i.e., electrons) to flow along them. These are:
conductors - metals, for example
semi-conductors - silicon is a good example
insulators - rubber, wood, plastic for example
Most materials are either conductors or insulators. The difference between them is that
in conductors, the outermost electrons in the atoms are so loosely bound to their atoms
that theyre free to travel around.
In insulators, on the other hand, the electrons are much more tightly bound to the atoms,
and are not free to flow.
Semi-conductors are a very useful intermediate class, not as conductive as metals but
considerably more conductive than insulators. By adding certain impurities to semiconductors in the appropriate concentrations the conductivity can be well-controlled.
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BBA2106: Basics in Natural Science

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There are three ways that objects can be given a net charge. These are:
1. Charging by friction- this is useful for charging insulators. For example, rubbing
glass with silk generally leaves the glass with a positive charge.
2. Charging by conduction- useful for charging metals and other conductors. If a
charged object touches a conductor, some charge with the same sign will be
transferred between the object and the conductor.
3. Charging by induction - also useful for charging metals and other conductors.
Again, a charged object is used, but this time it is only brought close to the
conductor, and does not touch it. A practical application involving the transfer of
charge is in how laser printers and photocopiers work.
Why is static electricity more apparent in winter?
We notice static electricity much more in winter (with clothes in a dryer, or taking a
sweater off, or getting a shock when you touch something after walking on carpet) than in
summer because the air is much drier in winter than summer. Dry air is a relatively good
electrical insulator, so if something is charged the charge tends to stay. In more humid
conditions, such as we find on a typical summer day, water molecules, which are
polarized, can quickly remove charge from a charged object.
Coulombs Law of Electric force
The magnitude of the electric force that a particle exerts on another particle is directly
proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between them. The direction of the force is along the line joining the particles. "
The electric force Fc can be written as
1 q1 q 2

(1)
4 0 r 2
where q1 and q2 are the charges of particle 1 and particle 2, respectively r is the distance
between particle 1 and particle 2 (see Figure 1) [epsilon] 0 is the permittivity constant:
Fc

[epsilon]0 = 8.85 x 10-12 C2/(N

m2), Electric Constant k

1
= 8.988 x 109
4 0

N*m^2/C^2

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BBA2106: Basics in Natural Science

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LECTURE

Figure 1. Electric force between two charged objects.

An important difference between the electric force and the gravitational force (
mm
Fg G 1 2 2 where m1, m2 are the masses of two bodies and r is the distance between
r
them. G is a constant: G = 6.673 10 11 ( N m 2 ) / Kg 2 ) is that the gravitational force is
always attractive, while the electric force can be repulsive (F c > 0), zero, or attractive (F c
< 0), depending on the charges of the particles. Table-2 lists the gravitational and the
Coulomb force between electrons, protons and neutrons when they are separated by 1 x
10-10 m.
If charges are at rest or are moving very slowly. The electric force exerted under these
circumstances is called the electrostatic force. If the charges are moving with a uniform
velocity, they will experience both the electrostatic force and a magnetic force. The
combined electrostatic and magnetic force is called the electromagnetic force.
Table-2: The gravitational (Fg) and Coulomb (Fc) between the building blocks
of atoms.
Fg (N)

Fc (N)

electron - electron

-5.5 x 10-51

2.3 x 10-8

electron - proton

-1.0 x 10-47

- 2.3 x 10-8

electron - neutron

-1.0 x 10-47

particle-particle

-44

2.3 x 10-8

proton - proton

- 1.9 x 10

proton - neutron

- 1.9 x 10-44

-44

neutron - neutron

- 1.9 x 10

Electric current (I)

The rate of flow of electric charge is called electric current and is measured in amperes.
I

Q
t

where, I = electric current, Q = electric charge, and t = time. Amperes = coulomb/second

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BBA2106: Basics in Natural Science

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LECTURE

In a direct current (DC) electrical circuit, the voltage (V in volts) is an expression of the
available energy per unit charge, which drives the electric current (I in amperes) around a
closed circuit. Increasing the resistance (R in ohms) will proportionately decrease the
current, which may be driven through the circuit by the voltage.
Resistance (R)
Resistance of any material is the property of that material for which it resists the flow of
current through it. The ratio of voltage to current is called the resistance (R). Unit of
resistance is ohm.
Ohm's Law
The current passing through a wire at constant temperature is proportional to the voltage
(or potential difference) between its ends.

Problems related to electric field and Ohms law:

1. Two electric charges 17 mC and 54 mC are separated by a distance of 10 cm.
Calculate the Coulomb force between the charges.
2. An electrostatic force between two electrons is 2.3 10 8 N . What will be
distance between them? [Given that the charge of the electron is - 1.6 10 19 C ].
Compare the gravitational force and Coulomb force between an electron and a
proton placed at a distance 10 10 m.
3. Two equal charges placed at a distance of 10 10 m are applying 2.3 10 8 N
force on each other. What will be the charge of each of them? What will be the
electric force between two electric charges separated by a distance of 75 cm and
having of charges of 10 C and 20 C?
4. When a voltage of 100 volt is supplied across a heating coil of an electric kettle,
3-ampere current flows through it. What is the resistance of the coil? If the
voltage is changed to 220 volt what will be the new current?
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BBA2106: Basics in Natural Science

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5. In an electric circuit voltage drop across a 10 K ohm resistance is 15 Volt. What

will be the electric current through that circuit?
6. If 5C charge is flowing for 10 seconds then what will be the current?

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