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Electrical Charge and Coulomb’s Law

Electromagnetic forces are responsible for the structure of atoms and for the binding of atoms in molecules
and solids. Many properties of materials that we have studied so far are electromagnetic in their nature. Such
as the elasticity of solids and the surface tension of liquids. The spring force, friction, and the normal force all
originate with the electromagnetic force between atoms.
Among the examples of electromagnetism that we shall study are the force between electric charges, such as
occurs between an electron and the nucleus in an atom; the motion of a charged body subject to an external
electric force. Such as an electron in an oscilloscope beam; the flow of electric charges through circuits and
the behavior of circuit elements; the force between permanent magnets and the properties of magnetic
materials; and electromagnetic radiation, which ultimately leads to the study of optics, the nature
and propagation of light.
In this chapter, we begin with a discussion of electric charge, some properties of charged bodies, and the
fundamental electric force between two charged bodies.

1.1 Electric Charge

Electric Charge and Electrical Forces
A body is said to be electrical neutral if it contains equal number of +ve and –ve charges. When two
bodies are rubbed together, their neutrality is distributed due to transfer of electrons from one body to the
other. The body which gives electrons becomes electrically positive and the body which gains electrons
becomes negative.
“Charges of the same signs repel each other and
Charges of the oppositely sign attract each other.”

These attractive and repulsive forces among the charges are called electrical forces.

Q # 1. Explain what is meant by the term “a neutral atom.’’ Explain what “a negatively charged atom’’
means.
Ans. A neutral atom is one that has no net charge. This means that it has the same number of electrons
orbiting the nucleus as it has protons in the nucleus. A negatively charged atom has one or more excess
electrons.
Q # 2. Explain from an atomic viewpoint why charge is usually transferred by electrons.
Ans. Electrons are less massive and more mobile than protons. Also, they are more easily detached from
atoms than protons.
Q # 3. Would life be different if the electrons were positively charged and the protons were negatively
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charged? Does the choice of signs have any bearing on physical and chemical interactions? Explain.

Ans. No. Life would be no different if electrons were + charged and protons were – charged. Opposite charges
would still attract, and like charges would repel. The naming of + and – charge is merely a convention.

(Definition) Point Charges:

The charge bodies whose sizes are much smaller than the distance between them are called point charges.

1.2 Coulomb’s Law

Charles Augustin Coulomb (l736- 1806) measured electrical attractions and repulsions quantitatively
and deduced the law that governs them. His apparatus, shown in Fig. consist of
spheres A and B.
If A and B are charged, the electric force on A tends to twist the suspension fiber. The
angle is then a relative measure of the electric force acting on charge
A. Experiments due to Coulomb and his contemporaries showed that
Statement
The magnitude of electrical force between two point charges is directly proportional
to the product of magnitude of charges and inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between their centers and the force acts along the line connecting the
charges.
Mathematical Form
Suppose two point charges and are separated by distance. According to the
Coulomb’s law, the electrical force between two charges is:

Combining (1) and (2) we have,

Where k is called Coulomb’s constant. Its value depends upon the system of
units and medium between the charges. For free space and in system international
‘k’ is expressed as:

Where is the permittivity of free space and its value in SI unit is:
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Example 1. What must be the distance between point charge and point charge for the
attractive electrical force between them to have a magnitude of 5.66 N.

Solution:

From Coulomb’s law:

Or,

Example 2. In the radioactive decay of , the center of the emerging particle is at a certain distance
from the center of residual nucleus at that instant. (a) What is the force on helium atom and (b) what is
its acceleration?

Solution:

Mass of helium atom

From Newton’s second law of motion:

1.3 Vector Form of Coulomb’s Law

So far, we have considered only the magnitude of the force between two charges determined according
to Coulomb’s law. Force, being a vector, has directional properties as well. In case of coulomb’s law, the
direction of the force is determined by the relative sign of the two
electric charges.
Suppose we have the two point charges and separated by a
distance. For the moment, we assume the two charges to have the same
sign, so that they repel each other. Let us consider the force exerted on
by is denoted by. The position
vector that locates particle 1 relative to particle 2 is ; that is, if we
were to define the origin of our coordinate system at the location of ,
then would be the position vector of.
If the charges have the same sign, then the force is repulsive
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and must be parallel to , as shown in figure a. If the charges are of opposite sign, as in figure b, then is
attractive and anti-parallel to . In either case we can represent the force as:

Question: Show that Coulomb force is a mutual force

Ans: Coulomb’s force is a mutual force, it means that if a charge exerts a force on charge then also exerts an
equal and opposite force on .

If represents the direction of force exerted on charge by and is the unit vector which represent the direction of
force on charge by , then,

As so the eqn. (1) becomes

By eqn (2)

This expression shows that Coulomb force is a mutual force.

1.3.1 Significance of Vector Form of Coulomb’s Law

Vector form of coulomb’s law has the critical importance, when there is an assembly of point charges.
In this case, the resultant force on any one of the charges is the vector sum of the forces due to each of the
other forces. This is called principle of superposition.
1.3.2 Coulomb force due to many point charges
Let are the ‘n’ point charges as shown in the figure. We
want to find out electrical force on charge
by the assembly of n point charges. The point charges are at the
distances from charge respectively.

Now if be the electrostatic force

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on charge due to the point charges respectively. Thus, the total
electrostatic force on charge is given by;

Where,
Force on charge exerted by
Force on charge exerted by
… … … …
… … … …
Force on charge exerted by
Putting values in equation (1) we get,

This expression gives the electrical force between on a point charge due to many point charges.

1.4 Quantization of Charges

When the two bodies are rubbed together, transfer of electrons from one body to the other takes place
and they are said to be electrified. The magnitude of charge q that can be detected and measured on any object
is given by
---------------------- (1)
where and is the elementary unit of charge called on unit charge, has the experimentally
determined value

When a physical quantity is discrete values, it is called quantized quantity.

Equation (1) shows that charge is also a quantized quantity like matter, energy, angular momentum
etc. It means that we can find a body that can have a charge of or but it is not possible to find a body with
fractional charge such as or.

Example-3. The electrostatic force between identical ions that are separated by a distance of is (a)
Find the charge on each ion? (b) How many electrons are missing from each ion?
Solution:

(a)

(b)
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THE ELECTRIC FIELD

Electric charges interact with each other over vast distances. Electrons or ionized atoms at the
furthest reaches of the known universe can exert forces that cause electrons to move on the Earth.
How can we explain these interactions? We do so in terms of electric field- the distant charge set up
an electric field, which exist throughout the space between the Earth and is the origin of the field.
In this chapter we consider only the static electric field due to charges at rest.
2.1 Electric Field Intensity

To describe the mechanism by which one charge particle exert the force the force on other charge particles,
Michael Faraday introduced the concept of electric field.
Electric Field
The region or space around a charge in which it can exert the force of attraction or repulsion on other
charged bodies is called electric field.
Electric Field Intensity
The electrostatic force on unit positive charge at a specific field point is called the electric field
intensity. In order to find out electric field intensity, a test charge is placed in the electric field at a field point.
The electric field intensity is expressed as,

Where is the electrostatic force on test charge.

The test charge should be very small, so that it cannot disturb the field produced by source charge
.Therefore the electric field intensity can be written as,

Electric Field Lines or Lines of Force

A visual representation of the electric field can be obtained in terms of electric field lines. Electric
field lines can be thought of a map that provides information about the direction and strength of the electric
field at various places. As electric field line provides the information about the electric force exerted on a
charge, the lines are commonly called “Lines of Force”.
Properties of Electric Field Lines
i) Electric field lines originate from positive charges and end on negative charges.
ii) The tangent to a field line at any point gives the direction of the electric field intensity at that point.
iii) The lines are closer where the field is strong, the lines are farther apart where the field is weak.
iv) No two lines cross each other.

Conceptual Q # 1. When defining the electric field, why is it necessary to specify that the magnitude of
the test charge be very small?
Ans. So the electric field created by the test charge does not distort the electric field you are trying to measure,
by moving the charges that create it.
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Conceptual Q # 2. An object with negative charge is placed in a region of space where the electric field
is directed vertically upward. What is the direction of the electric force exerted on this charge?
Ans. Vertically downward.
Conceptual Q # 3. Is it possible for an electric field to exist in empty space? Explain.
Ans. An electric field once established by a positive or negative charge extends in all directions from the
charge. Thus, it can exist in empty space if that is what surrounds the charge.
Conceptual Q # 4. Explain why electric field lines never cross.
Ans. The direction of the electric field is the direction in which a positive test charge would feel a force when
placed in the field. A charge will not experience two electrical forces at the same time, but the vector sum of
the two. If electric field lines crossed, then a test charge placed at the point at which they cross would feel a
force in two directions, which is not possible.

2.2 Electric Field Intensity Due To a Point Charge

Consider a test charge placed at point P in the electric field of a point charge at a distance apart.

We want to find out electric field intensity at point due to a point charge .
The electrostatic force between and can be find out by using expression,

The electric field intensity due to a point charge can be obtained by putting the value of electrostatic
force in expression of electric field intensity:

This expression gives the magnitude of electric field intensity due to a point charge. In vector form,
the electric field intensity will be:

Where is the unit vector which gives the direction of electric field intensity.
Conceptual Q # 5. Explain what happens to the magnitude of the electric field created by a point charge
as r approaches zero.
Ans. The electric field around a point charge approaches infinity as r approaches zero.

Example-4. In an ionized helium atom (a helium atom in which one of the two electrons has been
removed) the electron and nucleus are separated by a distance of 26.5 pm. What electric field due to the
nucleus at the location of the electron.
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Solution:
Total charge of helium nucleus
Distance

Example-5. Two equal and opposite charges of magnitude are held 15.2 cm apart. What is the direction
and magnitude of E at mid-point between the charges? What is the force act on an electron placed
here?

Solution:

Distance,
Mid-point,
Total electric field
Force on an electron placed at the same point

Total electric field

Now, Force on an electron placed at the same point

GAUSS’S LAW

Coulomb’s law can always be used to calculate the electric field intensity for any discrete or continuous charge
distribution of charges at rest. The sums or integrals might be complicated (and a computer might be needed to evaluate
them numerically), but resulting electric field intensity can always be found.
In this chapter, we discuss an alternative to Coulomb’s law, called Gauss’s law, that provides a more useful and
instructive approach to calculating the electric field in the situations having certain symmetries.
The number of situations that can directly be analyzed using Gauss’s law is small, but those cases can be done with
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extraordinary ease. Although Gauss’s law and Coulomb’s law gives identical results in the cases in which both can be
used. Gauss’s law is considered a more fundamental equation than Coulomb’s law. It is fair to say that while Coulomb’s
law provides workhorse of electrostatics, Gauss’s law provides the insight.
3.1 Electric Flux

The number of electric lines of force passing normally through a certain area is called the electric
flux. It is measured by the product of area and the component of electric field intensity normal to the area. It is
denoted by the symbol.
Consider a surface placed in a uniform electric field of intensity . Let
be the area of the surface. The component of normal to the area is as shown
in the figure below.
The electric flux through the surface is given by;

Thus, the electric flux is the scalar product of electric field intensity and the vector area. The SI unit of
the electric flux is

3.2 Electric Flux through an Irregular Shaped Object

Consider an object of irregular shape placed in a non-uniform electric field. We want to find out the
expression of electric flux through this irregular shaped object.
We divide the surface into n number of small
patches having area .
Let are the electric field intensities which makes angle
with the normal to the area elements respectively. If
be the electric flux through , then the total electric flux
will be:

Where are the vector areas corresponding to area elements respectively

When then the sigma is replaced by the surface integral i.e,

By convention, the outward flux is taken as positive and inward flux is taken as negative

Example-6. Consider a hypothetical closed cylinder of radius immersed in a uniform electric field , the
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cylinder axis being parallel to the field What is for this closed surface?

Solution:

The flux can be written as the sum of three terms, an

integral over (a) the left cylinder cap, (b) the cylindrical
surface, and (c) the right cap.

For the left cap, the angle for all points is , has a constant
value, and the vectors are all parallel. Thus,

Similarly, for the right cap,

The angle for all points being here.

Finally, for the cylinder wall,

Because, hence, for all points on the cylindrical surface. Thus the total flux is,

This result is expected, because the filed lines that enter at the left goes out from the right end.

3.3 Gauss’s Law

Statement:

The total electric flux through any close surface is times the total charge enclosed by the surface.
Explanation
The Gauss’s law gives the relation between total flux and total charge enclosed by the surface.
Consider a collection of positive and negative charges in a certain region of space. According to Gauss’s law:

Where is the net charge enclosed by the surface. Also,

Comparing (1) and (2) we have,

Thus we can describe the Gauss’s law as

The surface normal integral of electric field intensity is equal to times the total charge
enclosed by the surface.

3.4 Applications of Gauss’s law

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Gauss’s law can be used to calculate the electric field intensity due to certain charge distributions if
the charge distribution has the greater symmetry.

3.4.1 Electric Field due to Infinite Line of Charge

Consider a section of infinite line of charge having uniform linear charge
density ‘’ as shown in the figure below.
We want to find out electric field intensity at any point which is at distance
‘’ from the wire. For this we consider cylindrical Gaussian surface which
passes through point .The electric flux passing through the cylinder is given as

The surface ‘’ of the cylinder consist of three parts i.e., where

Area of top cross section of cylindrical Gaussian surface
Area of bottom cross section of cylindrical Gaussian surface
Area of curved part of Gaussian surface
Thus

Now

And,

Therefore

For cylindrical symmetry,

So, equation (1) becomes:

By, Gauss’s law

As the line of charge has constant linear charge density , therefore:

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So, the equation (3) becomes:

Comparing Eq. (2) and (4), we get:

If gives the direction of electric field intensity then,

This expression gives the electric field intensity due to infinite line of charge.

Example-7. An infinite line of charge produces a field of at a distance of 1.96 m. Calculate the linear charge
density?

Solution:

As,

Example-8. A plastic rod whose length is 220 cm and whose radius is 3.6 mm carries a negative charge q
of magnitude spread uniformly over its surface. What is the electric field near the midpoint of the rod
at a point on its surface?
Solution:

As Electric field intensity due to infinite line of charge is:

Now,
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3.4.2 Electric Field due to Spherical Shell of Charge

Question: Show that the uniform spherical shell of charge behaves, for all external points, as if all its
charge were concentrated at its center.
Proof: Consider a thin spherical shell of radius ‘’ which have the charge
‘’ with constant surface charge density ‘’.

Consider a point ‘’ outside the shell. We want to find out electric

field intensity due to this charge distribution. For this we consider a
spherical Gaussian surface of radius which passes through point
as shown in the figure below.
According to Gauss’s law,

Thus the uniform spherical shell of charge behaves like a point charge for all
the points outside the shell.
Question: Show that the uniform spherical shell of charge exerts no
electrostatic force on a charged particle placed inside the shell.
Consider a point ‘’ inside the shell. We want to fine out electric field
intensity ‘’ at point ‘’ due to this symmetrical charge distribution. For this we consider a spherical Gaussian
surface of radius which passes through point ‘’ as shown in the figure below.
According to Gauss’s law,

Because the Gaussian surface enclose no charge, therefore ‘q = 0’,

As , therefore

So the electric field does not exist inside a uniform shell of charge. So the test charge placed inside
the charged shell would experience no force.
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3.4.3 Deduction of Coulomb’s Law from Gauss’s Law

Coulomb’s law can be deduced from Gauss’s law under certain symmetry consideration. Consider positive
point charge ‘’. In order to apply the Gauss’s law, we assume a spherical Gaussian surface as shown in the figure
below.
Considering the integral form of Gauss’s law,

Because the both vectors and are directed radially outward, so

As E is constant for all the points on the spherical Gaussian surface,

This equation gives the magnitude of electric field intensity at any point which is at the
distance ‘’ from an isolated point charge ‘’.
From the definition of electric field intensity, we know that

Where is the point charge placed at a point at which the value of electric field intensity has to be
determined Therefore

This is the mathematical form of Coulomb’s law.

ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
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The energy approach in the study of dynamics of the particles can yield not only the simplification but also
new insights. One advantage of energy method is that, although force is a vector, energy is a scalar. In
problems involving vector forces and fields, calculations involving sums and integrals are often
complicated
In this chapter, we introduce the energy method to the study of electrostatics.
4.1 Potential Difference

Potential difference between two point is defined as “the amount of work done per unit charge in
moving it from one point to the other against the electric field and by keeping the system in equilibrium”.
Mathematically

Suppose a unit positive test charge is moved from one point to the point in the electric
field of a large positive charge as shown in figure below:

The work done in moving from point to the point against the electric field is

The electrical force of magnitude must have to supplied in order to move against the electric field. Therefore

as,
Therefore, the electrical potential difference between two points in an electrical field will be,

4.2 Absolute Electrical Potential at a Point

Absolute electric potential at a point is defined as “the amount of work done per unit charge in
moving it from infinity to a specific field point against the electric field and by keeping the system in
equilibrium”.
To find the absolute potential, the reference point is selected at which potential is zero. This point
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is situated at infinity i.e., out of the electric field. Thus, in equation (1)

Thus,

If the distance from the point to the charge is , then in general

The potential difference between two points is the amount of work done per unit charge in

4.3 Expression for the Electric Potential Difference due to a Point Charge
moving it from one point to the other against the electric field . Mathematically, it is described as:

But the electric field intensity due to point charge:

So,

As, is directed radially outward, therefore

hence,
So,

This is the expression for the potential difference between two points .
The electric potential at any point is the amount of work done per unit charge in moving a unit
4.4 Expression for the Absolute Electric Potential due to a Point Charge
positive charge (test charge) from infinity to that point, against the electric
field. If the point is at infinity then

Putting this value in equation in the expression of electric potential difference due to point charge, we get:

In general, the electric potential at point due to a point charge is

Example-9. Two protons in the nucleus of are apart. What potential energy associated with the
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electric force that acts between them?
Solution:

As,

Now,

Example-10. What is the electric potential at the surface of the gold nucleus. The radius of the gold nucleus is
and atomic number is 79.
Solution:

As,