Qualitatively, Electric Charge may be defined as that property

of matter that leads to attraction and repulsion interaction.

There 2 types of electric charge: Positive Charge and
Negative Charge.
All objects possess electric charge. An object or particle is
considered positively charged if its total charge is positive. An
object or particle is considered negatively charged if its total
charge is negative. An electrically neutral object or particle has
a total charge of zero.
Unit: coulomb ! "
q=q
positive
+q
negative
e=.#$2$
%
C
q
electron
=e=.#$2$
%
C
m
electron
=%.$%$
&
kg
q
proton
=+e=+.#$2$
%
C
m
proton
=.#'&$
2'
kg
q
neutron
=$C
m
neutron
=.#'($
2'
kg
)ach electric charge produces an Electric Field in
the surrounding space.
E=

*
$
q
r
2
) ! electric field at a pt. a distance r from charge +
+ ! charge producing electric field )
r ! distance from charge +

$
! permittivity of free space
! ,.,(* - $
.2
"
2
/01m
Unit of ): 0/m
The electric field is a vector +uantity and is, by
convention, considered to be directed away from the
positive charge and towards the negative charge.
2f there are 2 or more charges present in the area,
then the electric field at a particular point is the
vector sum of the electric fields produced by
charges.

E
total
=

E
i
=

E
2
+

E
&
+...
3hen a charge +

is placed in an electric field

produced by another charge +
2
, then +

e-periences a
force due to the electric field of +
2
. 4imilarly, the
electric field of +

5ill e-ert a force on +

2
. 4uch a
force is given by Coulomb's Law.
r ! distance bet5een
+

and +
2
The direction of this interaction force is given by:
Similar charges repel each other while opposite
charges attract each other.
F=F
2
=F
2
=

*
$
q

q
2

r
2
2n terms of the electric field, the force 6
$
e-erted on
charge +
$
by an electric field ) 7produced by another
charge +8 is given by

E=

F
q
$
9ust li:e total electric field, the total force e-perienced by
a charge is the vector sum of the forces due to the electric
fields of other charges in the area.

F
total
=

F
i
=

F
2
+

F
&
+...
An electric field that is constant 7in both magnitude and
direction8 not only 5ith respect to time but to position
as 5ell is referred to as a Uniform Electric Field.

E=

F
q
$
=constant

F=

Eq
$
=constant =m

a
)lectric force is a conservative force. The 5or: done by an electric force does not
depend on the path ta:en and is stored in the form of Electric Potential Energy.
6or 2 charges separated by distance r,
=

*
$

q
2

r
;ence the potential energy bet5een 2
charges is
d!=

Fd

"=Fcos d"=Fcos$dr
=

*
$

q
2

r
2
dr
!=

*
$

q
2

r
i

*
$

q
2

r
f
U ! < ! similar charges ! repulsion
U ! . ! opposite charges ! attraction
6or a charge in a uniform electric field,
E=
F
q
=constant F=Eq=constant
d!=

Fd

y=Fcos dy=Eqcos $dy

!=Eq( y
f
y
i
)
=Eqy
;ence for uniform electric field, the
potential energy is
9ust as the electric field is force per unit charge, electric potential
energy may also be described in terms of energy per unit charge.
This +uantity is referred to as Electric Potential.
7unit: 9/" ! volt ! =8
#=

q
$

#
single change
=

*
$
q
r
#
uniform electric field
=Ey
The electric potential for uniform electric field gives us another unit
for the electric field: =/m ! 0/"
"omparing the electric potential bet5een 2 points gives us the Electric Potential
Difference or Voltage.
#=#
a
#
b
=voltage