Electric Charges and Fields

ELECTROSTATICS
The study of electric charges at rest and the physical quantities associated with electric
charges at rest is called Electrostatic or Static electricity.
Static Means Anything that doesn’t move or change with time (i.e., rest)

Electric Charge: Electric charge is the property of matter that exhibits its electrostatic
interaction with other matter.
✔ Charge is the property associated with matter due to which it produces and
experiences electrical and magnetic effects.
✔ Bodies Like: Comb, Glass rods, Pith balls, Silk cloth etc.
✔ It is an intrinsic property of protons and electrons.
Types of Charges:
● Positive Charge: A proton has a positive charge
● Negative Charge: A electron Has A negative Charge
● A Neutron Has no net electric charge

The proton carries a charge +e= 1.6 x 10-19Coulomb (C)

The electron carries a charge -e= 1.6 x 10-19Coulomb (C)

SI Unit of Charge: S.I. unit of charge is coulomb (C),

● Milli Coulomb= 10-3 µC
● Micro Coulomb= 10-6 mC
Point charge: A finite size body may behave like a point charge if it produces an inverse square
electric field. For example, an isolated charged sphere behaves like a point charge at very large
distance as well as very small distance close to its surface .

Properties of charge:
 1) Unlike charges attract and like charges repel each other.

2) Charge is a scalar quantity.

3) Quantization of charge: charge on an object is always an integral multiple of the basic

unit of charge, i.e., (Q=ne), where n=1,2, 3……...

4) Charge is conserved: Charge can neither be created nor be destroyed. Total charge in an
isolated system is always conserved.

5) Additivity of Charge: The total charge of a system is equal to the algebraic sum of all
the individual electric charges in the system. The charge (q) of a body is always an
integral multiple of basic unit of charge (e) which is equal to 1.6 × 10−19 C.
Mathematically: q = ne where n = ±1, ±2, ±3, ⋯
Note: Proper signs have to be used while adding the charges in a system. For example, the total
charge of a system containing five charges +1, +2, –3, +4 and –5, in some arbitrary unit, is (+1)
+ (+2) + (–3) + (+4) + (–5) = –1 in the same unit.
Example:

Example: How much positive and negative charge is there in a cup of water? (NCERT)
6) Charge produces electric field and magnetic field: A charged particle at rest produces
only electric field in the space surrounding it. However, if the charged particle is in
unaccelerated motion it produces both electric and magnetic fields. And if the motion of
charged particle is accelerated it not only produces electric and magnetic fields but also
radiates energy in the space surrounding the charge in the form of electromagnetic waves.

7) Charge Always Comes with mass but mass never comes with charge
Conductors & Insulators
(i) Conductor: Conductors are the material in which the outer most electrons
are very loosely bound, so they are free to move (flow). So, in a conductor,
there are large number of free electrons.
Ex. Metals like Cu, Ag, Fe, Al.............
(ii) Insulator or Dielectric or Nonconductor: Non-conductors are the
materials in which outermost electrons are very tightly bound, so that they
cannot move (flow). Hence in a non-conductor there are no free electrons.
Ex. plastic, rubber, wood etc.
Grounding / Earthing
The process of transforming any excess charge on a body to the earth, using a
wire connected to the earth, is known as earthing or grounding.

Charging a body
There are three, methods to charge a body:
● Charging by friction
● Charging by conduction
 ● Charging by induction
Charging by friction
The process of charging two uncharged or neutral objects made of different
materials by rubbing against each other is called charging by friction.

Charging by Conduction
The process of charging by bringing a charged body in contact with a neutral body
is called charging by conduction.

Charging by Induction
The process of polarization of the charge on an uncharged body when a charged
body is held close to it is called induction of charge.

a) When a comb rubbed with dry hair attracts pieces of paper. Why?
 when the comb is brought near neutral paper strips. Within the paper’s strips,
the electrons get either repelled or attracted according to whether the comb has
a negative or a positive charge. This makes the paper strips have an unlike
charge in the direction of the comb, and makes them rise towards it.

b) Can two similarly charged bodies attract each other?

When charge on one body (Q) is much greater than that on another (q) and they are close
enough to each other, then force of attraction between Q and induced charges exceeds the
force of repulsion between Q and q.
c) Does in charging the mass of a body change?
When a body is charged, electrons are added or reduced to the body. Each electron
has mass. So, mass of body may increase of decrease.

⮚ Coulomb’s Law

Coulomb’s law states that the electrostatic force between two charges is
directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between the charges.
One Coulomb

Unit charge is a charge which experiences an electrostatic force of 9 X109N, when

placed at a distance of one meter from another unit charge in free space.

Coulomb’s Law in Vector Form:

Principle of Superposition (Multiple Charge)

According to the principle of superposition, the net electrostatic force on a

charge is equal to the vector sum of the individual electrostatic forces on that
charge due to every other charge of the system of charges.
ELECTRIC FIELD

⮚ Electric field is the region in which the influence of a charge is felt.

⮚ Electric field strength or intensity of electric field (E) is the force on unit positive charge
acting at a particular point in the electric field.
⮚ Electric field strength, E, is a vector quantity pointing in the direction of the force on a unit
positive charge at a point in the electric field

⮚ The S.I. unit of electric flux is Nm2C-1 or Vm

⮚ It is a vector quantity

ELECTRIC FIELD DUE TO A POINT CHARGE

Continuous Charge Distribution
✔ The region in which charge are closely spaced is said to have continuous
charge distribution. They are of 3 types:

Linear Charge Density(λ):

⮚ It is defined as charge per unit length.

⮚ Denoted by Lambda(λ)
⮚ Its SI Unit is Coulomb/Meter (c/m)
⮚ It is a Scalar Quantity

Surface Charge Density

⮚ It is the charge per unit area of the surface at that point

⮚ Denoted by Sigma (σ)
⮚ Si Unit is Coulomb/metre2 (c/m2)
⮚ It is a Scalar Quantity

Volume Charge Density

⮚ It is the change per unit volume at that point

⮚ It is denoted by rho (ρ)
⮚ SI Unit is Columb/Metre3 (c/m3)
⮚ It is a scalar quantity

Electric Field Lines:

An electric field line is defined as the

path followed by a unit positive charge in an
electric field.
The number of the field lines per unit
area perpendicular to a surface is equal to the
magnitude of the electric field strength.
It helps to estimate electric field strength

.
✔ Electric field lines diverge normally from a positive charge and converge normally
at a negative charge.

Like Charges Repel Unlike Charges Attract

 Properties Of Electric Field Lines:

⮚ The tangent drawn to an electric field line at a point in the electric field gives
the direction of the electric field strength E, at that point.
⮚ Electric field lines diverge normally from a positive charge and converge
normally at a negative charge.
⮚ Electric field lines do not intersect each other.
⮚ Electrostatic field lines never form closed loops due to the conservative
nature of the electric field.

⮚ In a charge free region, the electric field lines are continuous curves without
any breaks.

ELECTRIC FLUX

⮚ Electric flux is the dot product of the magnitude of electric field and the area
of cross section.
⮚ In the SI system, electric flux is measured in Nm2C-1
Gauss Law: Gauss’ law states that “The electric flux through any closed surface is
proportional to the enclosed electric charge.” Φ = q in/ε0

⮚ The net electric flux (φ) through any closed surface is independent of the shape of
the closed surface. Φ=qin/E0 (qin = charge enclosed by the gaussian surface)
⮚ The net flux through a closed surface not enclosing any charge is zero. Φ=0
⮚ Gauss’ law is applicable to any closed surface of any arbitrary shape.

Application of GAUSS LAW:

i) Infinite Straight Wire

ii) Thin Spherical Shell

Inside the Shell:

Electric Dipole:

An electric dipole is a pair of equal and opposite point charges separated by a small distance.

Electric dipole moment is defined as the product of magnitude of either of charge and length of
the dipole (p = 2aq).

The S.I. unit of electric dipole moment is C m (coulomb metre)

Dipole in Uniform External Electric Field

⮚ Derive an expression for the torque acting on electric dipole placed in a uniform electric field.
Here, P= Electric Dipole Moment
E= Electric Field Strength
θ= Angle Between Dipole axis and direction of external electric field
Non-Polar Molecules: Molecules in which the centers of all positive and negative charges coincide are
called non- polar molecules. Non polar molecules do not have any dipole moment.

Polar Molecules: Molecules in which the centers

of all positive and negative charges do not
coincide are called polar molecules. Polar
molecules are permanent dipoles.
Using Gauss’ Law, the electric field strength due to an infinite plane sheet of charge is
expressed as: E = σ/2ε0