PHY 142 (Spring 2017): Lecture 1 - Electric Charge

In this lecture we will discuss how one can deduce the existence of electric charge and some of it's most
basic properties from observations related to static electricity.

Electric charges
In modern times we take for granted certain concepts related to electric charge.

At the most basic level

Charge can be either positive or negative.

Like charges repel and unlike charges attract.

On a microscopic level

Two of the most common elementary particles that have equal and opposite charges are the
electron and the proton.
In an atom there is a positive nucleus containing protons (an electrically neutral neutrons)
surrounded by a cloud of electrons.

As students of science, we should not merely accept these facts but carefully consider the observations
that allow us to make these conclusions. We will begin by demonstrating the first two basic concepts using
static electricity.

Static Electricity
Static Electricity [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity] describes a build up of charge on an object. We
are all familiar with contact induced transfer of charge between objects or Triboelectricity
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboelectric_effect].

The ancient Greeks knew that amber rubbed with wool would then attract small objects, and the word
electricity comes from this effect the (Greek word for amber is elektron). However to understand why such
a thing should happen we need to invoke our modern understanding of atomic structure.

Amber [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber] is fossilized tree resin and is a macromolecule formed by the

polymerization of different carbon compounds found in tree resin. The atoms in these compounds have
fairly empty outer shells. In common with many modern plastics this means it has a tendency to pick up
electrons and develop a negative electric charge when put into contact with materials that has loosely
bound electrons. Fur, hair, silk and synthetic fibres such as nylon tend to be on the other side of the series,
ie. they readily give up electrons to develop a positive charge. Glass and human skin are also examples of
materials that readily acquire a positive charge.

The rubbing that we normally associate with building up static is not essential for charge transfer, it simply
generates a large number of contact-decontact events which allow a lot of charge to be transferred from
one object to the other.

Examples of Triboelectric effects

Rubbing plastic and rabbit-fur
Van der Graaf generator [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_de_Graaff_generator], which we will
demonstrate in a subsequent lecture
Scotch Tape demonstration to show there are two types of charges (positive and negative)
Conduction
Charges on an object will behave differently depending on the conduction properties of a material.

Insulators can maintain a charge distribution that is produced on them as the charge is not free to move
around in the materials. Usually the charge on an object is eventually dissipated by contact with water
(which is a polar molecule) in the atmosphere. You are much more likely to get static shock on a dry day!

On the other hand, in a good conductor, such as a metal, the electrons are free to move around, and will
therefore, if the metal object is isolated, distribute themselves uniformly on the surface of the object
(given that like charges repel and they would like to be as far away from each other as possible).

Electrostatic induction
Electrostatic induction [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_induction] describes charge accumulations that
come about when a charged object is brought in to proximity with another object

The ability of the charges in a conductor to readily redistribute gives rise to significant induced charge
when a charged object is brought close to a metallic object.

Insulators may also develop an induced charge, but in this case the charge is redistributed within the
atoms or molecules of the material, rather than throughout the entire object.

Dependence of the electric force on distance

So far we should have been able to convince ourselves of the truth of our initial two basic concepts, the
existence of electric charges of two signs, with like charges repelling each other and unlike charges
attracting each other. We have also seen that the force between electric charges acts at a distance. The
demonstration that the dependence of the force on the distance between charges goes as 1 was achieved
2
r

by Charles-augustin de Coulomb [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Augustin_de_Coulomb]. This was

achieved through the invention of the torsion balance [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsion_spring] by Coulomb
himself.
Coulomb's experiment

Coulomb's electrical torsion balance

To see an actual recreation of Coulomb's experiment see this video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=omobCEi20ng&feature=player_embedded] (advance warning: the narration is in French).

Coulomb's law
Based upon his experiment Coulomb stated The magnitude of the Electrostatics force of interaction
between two point charges is directly proportional to the scalar multiplication of the magnitudes of charges
and inversely proportional to the square of the distances between them.

Writing this in the form of an equation gives us

Q Q
1 2
F = k
2
r

where
9 2 2
k = 8.99 10 Nm /C

In writing this equation we have also introduced a unit for charge, the Coulomb (C). This is a very large
amount of charge! An electron carries a charge of e = 1.602 10 C .
19

The proportionality constant k can be written k =

1
. 0 is the permittivity of free space,
4
0

0 = 8.85 10
12 2
C /Nm
2
, and the utility of this constant will be seen later in the course.

Note that in any given case a charge exerts an equal and opposite force on another charge to the force
that the other charge exerts on it, and thus satisfies Newton's third law.
Force due to more than one charge
The best approach for finding the force on one point charge due to other point charges is to find the force
on the charge due to each charge around it and sum the forces together, paying attention to the direction
of the force!.

For the above

Q Q Q Q
F1 = (k
1

2
2
+k
1 3

2
)N to the right
l (l 12 +l 23 )
12

Q Q Q Q
F2 = (k
1

2
2
+k
2

2
3
)N to the left
l l
12 23

Q Q Q Q
to the left
1 3 2 3
F3 = (k 2
k
2
)N
(l 12 +l 23 ) l
23

Acollinear Charge Configurations

When charges are not lined up nicely in a line the force terms need to be added as vectors, the length of
each vector may be found using Coulomb's law:
Q Q
1 2
F = k
2
r

Here is a visualization of the force in a configuration containing more than two charges not in a straight
line.

phy142kk/lectures/1-17.txt Last modified: 2017/01/24 13:28 by kkumar