Electrostatics is the study of

stationary electric charges and all

the effects they produce.
 Electric Charge and Electrical Forces:

 Electrons have a negative electrical charge.

 Protons have a positive electrical charge.

 These charges interact to create an electrical force.

 Like charges produce repulsive forces – so they

repel each other (e.g. electron and electron or
proton and proton repel each other).

 Unlike charges produce attractive forces – so they

attract each other (e.g. electron and proton attract
each other).
A very highly simplified model of an atom has most of
the mass in a small, dense center called the nucleus. The
nucleus has positively charged protons and neutral
neutrons. Negatively charged electrons move around
the nucleus at much greater distance. Ordinary atoms
are neutral because there is a balance between the
number of positively charged protons and negatively
charged electrons.
 Electrostatic Charge:

 Electrons move from atom to atom to create

ions.

 positively charged ions result from the

loss of electrons and are called cations.

 Negatively charged ions result from the

gain of electrons and are called anions.
(A) A neutral atom has no net charge because the
numbers of electrons and protons are balanced.

(B) Removing an electron produces a net positive charge;

the charged atom is called a positive ion (cation).

(C) The addition of an electron produces a net negative

charge and a negative ion (anion).
A numbers of
protons (+) and
electrons (-) on a
polythene rod and in
a cloth duster
before and after
rubbing. Rubbing
transfers electrons
from the cloth to the
rod by friction,
resulting in a
negative charge on
the rod and a
positive charge on
the cloth.
 The charge on an ion is called an electrostatic
charge.

 An object becomes electrostatically charged by

 Friction,which transfers electrons between

two objects in contact,

 Contact with a charged body which results

in the transfer of electrons,

 Induction which produces a charge

redistribution of electrons in a material.
 Measuring Electrical Charges:

 The fundamental charge is the electrical charge on an electron and has a

magnitude of 1.6021892 X 10-19 C (Note that the electrical charge is measured
in coulombs).

 A coulomb is the charge resulting from the transfer of 6.24 x 10 18 electrons.

 The magnitude of an electrical charge (q) is dependent upon how many

electrons (n) have been moved to it or away from it.
Mathematically,
q=ne
where e is the fundamental charge.
 Electrical Conductors and Insulators:

 Electrical conductors are materials that can move

electrons easily.
 Good conductors include metals. Copper is the

best electrical conductor.

 Electrical nonconductors (insulators) are

materials that do not move electrons easily.

 Examples are wood, rubber etc.

 Semiconductors are materials that sometimes

behave as conductors and sometimes behave as
insulators.
Examples are silicon, arsenic, germanium.
 Coulomb’s law:
Electrical force is proportional to the product of the electrical charge and
inversely proportional to the square of the distance. This is known as
Coulomb’s law.
Mathematically,
q1 q 2
F k 2
where,
 F is the force,
d
 k is a constant and has the value of 9.00 x 109 Newtonmeters2/coulomb2 (9.00 x 10

9 Nm2/C2),

 q represents the electrical charge of object 1 and q represents the electrical charge
1 2
of object 2, and
 d is the distance between the two objects.
 Elecric Fields:

 This is a region around a charged particle or object

within which a force would be exerted on other
charged particles or objects.
 A map of the electrical field can be made by bringing a positive test charge
into an electrical field.

 When brought near a negative charge the test

charge is attracted to the unlike charge and when
brought near a positive charge the test charge is
repelled.

 You can draw vector arrows to indicate the

direction of the electrical field.

 This is represented by drawing lines of force or

electrical field lines,
 These lines are closer together when the field is

stronger and farther apart when it is weaker.

A positive test
charge is used by
convention to
identify the
properties of an
electric field. The
vector arrow
points in the
direction of the
force that the test
charge would
experience.
Lines of force diagrams
for (A) a negative charge
and (B) a positive charge
when the charges have
the same magnitude as
the test charge.
 Electrical Potential:
 An electrical charge has an electrical field that surrounds it.
 In order to move a second charge through this field work must be done.
 Bringing a like charge particle into this field will require work since like
charges repel each other and bringing an opposite charged particle into the
field will require work to keep the charges separated.

 In both of these cases the electrical potential is

changed.
 The potential difference (PD) that is created by doing 1 joule of work in
moving 1 coulomb of charge is defined as 1 volt.
 A volt is a measure of the potential difference
between two points,
 electric potential = work done,
charge
Or, PD=W
Q
 The voltage of an electrical charge is the energy

transfer per coulomb.

 The energy transfer can be measured by the work that is done to move the
charge or by the work that the charge can do because of the position of the
field.
The falling
water can do
work in turning
the water wheel
only as long as
the pump
maintains the
potential
difference
between the
upper and lower
reservoirs.
Electric Current
 Introduction:

 Electric Current is defined as the

flow of the charge.
 The Electric Circuit:
An electrical circuit contains some device that acts as a source of energy
as it gives charges a higher potential against an electrical field.

 The charges do work as they flow through the

circuit to a lower potential.
 The charges flow through connecting wires to

make a continuous path.

 A switch is a means of interrupting or completing

the circuit.
 The source of the electrical potential is the voltage source.
A simple electric circuit has a voltage source (such as a
generator or battery) that maintains the electrical potential,
some device (such as a bulb or motor ) where work is done by
the potential, and continuous pathways for the current to
follow.
 Voltage is a measure of the potential difference between two places in a
circuit.
 The unit is the Volt (Joule per Coulomb)
 The rate at which an electrical current (I) flows is the charge (Q) that moves
through a cross section of a conductor in a give unit of time ( t),

I = Q/t.

 the units of current are coulombs/second.

 A coulomb/second is an Ampere (A).

Q= It
The unit of charge is the Coulomb (or Ampere.
second)
 The Nature of Current:
 Conventional current describes current as positive charges that flow from
the positive to the negative terminal of a battery.

 The electron flow description is the opposite of the conventional current.

 The electron flow describes current as a drift of

negative charges that flow from the negative to
the positive terminal of a battery.

 It is actually the electron current that moves

charges.
 The current that occurs when there is a voltage depends on:

 The number of electrons that are moved through

the unit volume of the conducting material.

 The fundamental charge on each electron.

 The drift velocity which depends on the

properties of the conducting material and the
temperature.

 The cross-sectional area of the conducting wire.

 It is the electron field, and not the electrons, which does the work.
 It is the electric field that accelerates electrons
that are already in the conducting material.
 It is important to understand that:
 An electric potential difference establishes, at
nearly the speed of light, an electric field
throughout a circuit.
 The field causes a net motion that constitutes a

flow of charge.
 The average velocity of the electrons moving as a

current is very slow, even thought he electric

field that moves them travels with a speed close
to the speed of light.
 Electrical Resistance:
 Electrical resistance is the resistance to movement of electrons being
accelerated with an energy loss.
 Materials have the property of reducing a current and
that is electrical resistance (R).

 Resistance is a ratio between the potential difference ( V) between two points

and the resulting current (I).

R = V/I

 The ratio of volts/amp is called an ohm ().

 The relationship between voltage, current, and resistance is:

V =I R
This is known as Ohms Law.

 The magnitude of the electrical resistance of a conductor depends on four

variables:

 The length of the conductor.

 The cross-sectional area of the conductor.

 The material the conductor is made of.

 The temperature of the conductor.

The four factors that influence the resistance of an
electrical conductor are the length of the conductor, the
cross-sectional area of the conductor, the material the
conductor is made of, and the temperature of the
conductor.
 Electrical Power and Electrical Work:
 All electrical circuits have three parts in common.
 A voltage source.
 An electrical device
 Conducting wires.

 The work done (W) by a voltage source is equal to the work

done by the electrical field in an electrical device,
Work = Power x Time.
 The electrical potential is measured in joules/coulomb and a quantity of charge is
measured in coulombs, so the electrical work is measure in joules.
 A joule/second is a unit of power called the watt.
Power = current x potential
Or, P=IV
would cost to run each of
these appliances for one
hour?
(A) This light bulb is
designed to operate on a
potential difference of
120 volts and will do
work at the rate of 100
W.
(B) The finishing sander
does work at the rate of
1.6 amp x 120 volts or
192 W. (C) The garden
shredder does work at
the rate of 8 amps x 120
volts, or 960 W.
This meter measures the amount of electric work
done in the circuits, usually over a time period of a
month. The work is measured in kWhr.
Magnetism
All of us are familiar with magnets. In a magnet we have magnetic poles
– the north and the south pole.

 A North seeking pole is called the North Pole.

 A South seeking pole is called the South Pole.

Like magnetic poles repel and unlike magnetic poles attract.

Every magnet has ends, or poles, about which the
magnetic properties seem to be concentrated. As this
photo shows, more iron filings are attracted to the
poles, revealing their location.
 Magnetic Fields:

 A magnet that is moved in space near a second magnet experiences a

magnetic field.

 A magnetic field can be represented by field lines.

 The strength of the magnetic field is greater where the lines are closer
together and weaker where they are farther apart.
These lines are a map of the magnetic field around a
bar magnet. The needle of a magnetic compass will
follow the lines, with the north end showing the
direction of the field.
 The Source of Magnetic Fields:

 Permanent Magnets:
 Moving electrons produce magnetic fields.

 In most materials these magnetic fields cancel one

another and neutralize the overall magnetic effect.

 In other materials such as iron, cobalt, and nickel,

the atoms behave as tiny magnets because of
certain orientations of the electrons inside the
atom.

 These atoms are grouped in a tiny region called

the magnetic domain.
Our Earth is a big magnet.

 The Earth’s magnetic field is thought to originate

with moving charges.

 The core is probably composed of iron and nickel,

which flows as the Earth rotates, creating electrical
currents that result in the Earth’s magnetic field.
The earth's magnetic
field. Note that the
magnetic north pole and
the geographic North Pole
are not in the same place.
Note also that the
magnetic north pole acts
as if the south pole of a
huge bar magnet were
inside the earth. You
know that it must be a
magnetic south pole since
the north end of a
magnetic compass is
attracted to it and opposite
poles attract.
A bar magnet cut into halves always makes new,
complete magnets with both a north and a south
pole. The poles always come in pairs. You can not
separate a pair into single poles.
Electric Currents
and
Magnetism
Oersted discovered that a
compass needle below a
wire (A) pointed north
when there was not a
current,
(B) moved at right angles
when a current flowed
one way, and
(C) moved at right angles
in the opposite direction
when the current was
reversed.
(A) In a piece of iron, the magnetic domains have
random arrangement that cancels any overall magnetic
effect (not magnetic).
(B) When an external magnetic field is applied to the
iron, the magnetic domains are realigned, and those
parallel to the field grow in size at the expense of the
other domains, and the iron becomes magnetized.
A magnetic
compass
shows the
presence and
direction of
the magnetic
field around
a straight
length of
current-
carrying
wire.
Use (A) a right-hand rule of thumb to determine the
direction of a magnetic field around a conventional
current and
(B) a left-hand rule of thumb to determine the direction
of a magnetic field around an electron current.
When a current is run
through a cylindrical
coil of wire, a
solenoid, it produces a
magnetic field like the
magnetic field of a bar
magnet. The solenoid
is known as
electromagnet.
 Applications of Electromagnets:
 Electric Meters:

 The strength of the magnetic field produced by an

electromagnet is proportional to the electric current in
the electromagnet.

 A galvanometer measures electrical current by

measuring the magnetic field.

 A galvanometer can measure current, potential

difference, and resistance.
A galvanometer measures the direction and relative
strength of an electric current from the magnetic
field it produces. A coil of wire wrapped around an
iron core becomes an electromagnet that rotates in
the field of a permanent magnet. The rotation moves
pointer on a scale.
 Electric Motors:
 An electrical motor is an electromagnetic device
that converts electrical energy into mechanical
energy.

 A motor has two working parts - a stationary

magnet called a field magnet and a cylindrical,
movable electromagnet called an armature.

 The armature is on an axle and rotates in the

magnetic field of the field magnet.

 The axle is used to do work.

Electromagnetic Induction
 Induced Current:
 If a loop of wire is moved in a magnetic field a voltage is induced in the
wire.
 The voltage is called an induced voltage and the resulting current is called an
induced current.
 The induction is called electromagnetic induction.

A current is induced in a
coil of wire moved
through a magnetic field.
The direction of the
current depends on the
direction of motion.
 The magnitude of the induced voltage is proportional to:

 The number of wire loops cutting across the

magnetic field lines.

 The strength of the magnetic field.

 The rate at which magnetic field lines are cut by

the wire.

 Applications:
 DC and AC Generators,
 Transformers (step-up and step-down).