Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Static electricity is the study of the charges which are at rest and their effects and
current electricity is the study of charges which are in motion.
Charge is the fundamental property of matter that exhibits electrostatic repulsion or
attraction.
Matter is generally made up of atoms, in atom there exist electrons which revolves
around the nucleus, and inside the nucleus there are protons and neutrons. Protons
and electrons are elementary charged particles.
Unit for charge is Coulombs. We represent it with letter C.
Protons has a mass of 1.6 x 10-27 kg and a charge of + 1.6 x 10-19 C
Electron has a mass of 9.1 x10-31kg and a charge of - 1.6 x 10-19 C
Usually when a body gains electrons, it becomes negatively charged. When it loses
electrons it becomes positively charged.
Whenever two bodies are charged by rubbing, one gets positively charged and the
other, negatively charged. The net charge on the two bodies, however, remains zerothe same as that before rubbing. In other words charge is conserved. It can neither
be created nor destroyed.
Charging a body:
Charging means gaining or losing of electrons. We can charge a body in different ways in
such a way that it will host a positive charge or a negative charge. The nature of charge and
polarity will depend on the process of charging.
Charging by friction: When you rub one material to another, they are charged by
friction. Material losing electron is positively charged and material gaining electron
is negatively charged. Amount of gained and lost electron is equal to each other.
Eg: Rubbing a glass rod with a silk cloth.
Properties of charge:
If the sizes of charged bodies are very small as compared to the distances between them,
we treat them as point charges. All the charge content of the body is assumed to be
concentrated at one point in space.
Additivity of charges:
If a system contains two point charges q1 and q2 , the total charge of the system is obtained
simply by adding algebraically q1
scalars like the mass of a body. But the difference is mass always exists in positive scale
whereas charge can be negative too.
If a system contains n charges q1 , q2 , q3 ...qn then the total charge of the system is
Q q1 q2 q3 ..... qn
Charge is conserved:
Within an isolated system consisting of many charged bodies, due to interactions among
the bodies, charges may get redistributed but it is found that the total charge of the isolated
system is always conserved. Conservation of charge has been established experimentally.
It is not possible to create or destroy net charge carried by any isolated system
although the charge carrying particles may be created or destroyed in a process.Sometimes
nature creates charged particles: a neutron turns into a proton and an electron. The proton
and electron thus created have equal and opposite charges and the total charge is zero
before and after the creation.
Quantization of charge:
All free charges are integral multiples of a basic unit of charge denoted by e.Thus charge
qon a body is always given by
Q = ne
where nis any integer, positive or negative.
This basic unit of charge is the charge that an electron or proton carries. By convention, the
charge on an electron is taken to be negative; therefore charge on an electron is written as
e and that on a proton as +e. The value of this basic unit is 1.6 x 10-19 C
Solved Problems:
Q1. Find how many electrons are present in ONE coulomb of charge.
Solution: One electron contains - 1.6 x 10-19 C charge. Let n electrons carries one coulomb
of charge.
ne 1C
n
1C
1C
e 1.6 10 19
Coulombs law
The force of attraction or repulsion between two charges is given by Coulombs law.
Coulombs law state that the force of attraction or repulsion between two charges is
-
F Q1 Q2
-
Inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two charges.
1
R2
Q1 Q2
R2
By applying a constant K
K1Q1Q2
Newtons
R2
1
= 9 x 109 Nm2C-2
4 0
in SI units is
Solved Problems:
Q2. Two charges 10 C and 5 C are separated by a distance 2 m. Calculate the electrostatic
force between them.
Solution:
Given Q1 = 10 C and Q2 =5 C
Distance R = 2 m.
From the formula: F
KQ1Q2
R2
K (10 5)
22
F 12.5K
Q3. If the distance is doubled between two charges, find the new electrostatic force
between them.
Solution: Let the force of attraction between the two charges is F1.
Let the new distance is R2 = 2R1
F2
KQ1Q2
R22
F2
KQ1Q2
4 R12
F2
F1
4
Electric field:
This is the area in which the force of influence of an electric charge is present.
Consider a charge Q due to which a test charge q (test charge is always assumed to be
positive in nature and unity magnitude) is experiencing a force F when placed at a
distance r in the vacuum
Then electric field due to charge Q is defined as
F
q
KQq
r2
kQ
r2
1 Q
r
4 0 r 2
When electric field is caused by a positive charge, the test charge will be repelled
and moves out of the field. If we draw a line along the path of the test charge, it will
be outward from the charge as shown below.
When electric field is caused by a negative charge, the test charge will be attracted
and moves towards the center. If we draw a line along the path of the test charge, it
will be towards the center as shown below.
Electric Dipole:
An electric dipole is a pair of equal and opposite point charges q and q, separated by a
distance 2l.By convention, the direction from q to q is said to be the direction of the dipole.
The total charge of the electric dipole is obviously zero.This does not mean that the field of
the electric dipole is zero.Since the charge q and q are separated by some distance, the
electric fields due to them, when added, do not exactly cancel out.
Dipole moment:
The dipole moment of an electric dipole is defined as the product of magnitude of charge q
and the distance of separation 2l. This is a vector quantity.
p (q 2l ) p
Electric Current
The rate of flow of charges is defined as electric current.It is denoted by I.If Q is the net
charge passing through any cross section of a conductor in a time t, then
Q
t
ne
t
Q ne
t
t
Q
t
Q It
= 10 x 120
Q 1200C
Electric Potential:
Imagine a situation, where a unit charge to be moved from infinity to a point inside an
electric field. To perform this action, some work supposed to be done against the force of
attraction/repulsion by the field.
The amount work done to bring unit positive test charge from infinity to a point in the
electric field is defined as the electric potential at that point.
Usually, we dont define the absolute potential at a point but potential difference
between two points in an electric field.
It is denoted by V
W
q
If VoA and VOB are the potentials at points A and B in an electric field, then
Potential difference between A and B is given by
VAB VOB VOA
Solved Problems
Q5. A and B are two points in a circuit. When a charge of 3 C passes from A to B, the work
done is 18 J. Calculate the potential difference between A and B.
Solution: Given W = 18 J and Q = 3 C.
From the formula: V
18
6V
3
W
Q
For Q > 0, the work done against the repulsive force on the test charge is positive.Since
work done is independent of the path, we choose a convenient path along the radial
direction from infinity to the point P.
The work done is defined as w = F. r '
Here the force can be calculated from the Coulombs law.
The total work done is obtained by integrating the above equation between the limits
r to r r '
By solving the expression for work done and substituting it in V
W
, we have the
Q
V (r )
1 Q
4 0 r
Electric Circuit:
An electric circuit can be defined as the path of charge (usually electrons) from a voltage
source or current source. This path is always a closed loop. The different electronic
components are represented by various symbols in the electric circuit. Some of them are
shown below.
Ohms law:
According to this law, at constant temperature the current passing through a conductor (i)
is proportional to the voltage (V) applied to it.
Mathematically
V i
V iR
Mathematically R
V
and
i
1 Ohm =
1Volt
1amp
Usually the resistance of a material depends on its geometrical parameters like its
length, area of cross section etc. So for an element, resistance is variable. Hence
another parameter called as resistivity is defined.
Resistance of a material is directly proportional to its length and inversely
proportional to its area of cross section.
l
R
Hence
a
l
a
For a given material, the resistivity is constant and the resistance will vary based on its
geometry. The units of resistivity are Ohm-meter
Some of the materials with their resistivity values are given below
System of Resistors:
The resistors can be used in either series or parallel combination.
Resistors in Series:
When resistors are connected in series, the current in the circuit is constant and the
potential across the resistors will vary, based on the resistance value.
Let three resistors are connected in series as shown below.
V V V V
R R1 R2 R3
1
1 1
1
R R1 R2 R3
Electric Power:
The power of a device is defined as the product of its rated voltage and current.
i.e.,
P=VxI
Also, I = V/R P
V2
R
Solved Problems
Q6. A conductor has a resistance of 10 Ohms resistance. If the applied voltage is 50 Volts,
find the current passing through it.
Solution: Given R = 10 Ohms; V = 50 V
From Ohms law:
V
50
=
= 5A
R 10
Q7. An electric heater rated as 240 V and 6 A. Find its power consumption.
Solution: Given P = 240 V and I = 6 A.
Power P = V x I = 240 x 6 = 1440 Watt.
R = Ro [1+ (T To)]
where is the temperature coefficient of resistivity of the material.
To is the reference temperature (i.e. room temperature)
Ro is the resistance at To
Usually, for conductors, the resistance decreases with decrease in temperature and for
semiconductors, resistance decreases with increase in temperature.
Hence conductors have the positive temperature coefficient of resistance and semiconductors have negative temperature coefficient of resistance.