Chapter 1 - Electric Charges and Fields
Chapter 1 - Electric Charges and Fields
1. There exists only two types of charges, namely positive and negative.
American scientist Benjamin Franklin.
2. Like charges repel and unlike charges attract each other.
3. Charge is a scalar quantity.
4. We know that when we add a positive number to a negative number
of the same magnitude, the sum is zero
ST. BRITTO'S ACADEMY, CLASS XII PHYSICS 3
ST. BRITTO'S ACADEMY, CLASS XII PHYSICS 4
The property of attraction and repulsion between charged bodies have
many applications such as electrostatic paint spraying, powder coating,
fly−ash collection in chimneys, ink−jet printing and photostat copying
(Xerox) etc.
ink-jet printer
Electrostatic precipitator
1. It consists of a vertical metal rod housed in a box, with two thin gold
leaves attached to its bottom end.
2. When a charged object touches the metal knob at the top of the rod,
charge flows on to the leaves and they diverge.
3. The degree of divergence is an indicator of the amount of charge.
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ST. BRITTO'S ACADEMY, CLASS XII PHYSICS 8
Earthing:
1. This process of sharing the charges with the earth is called
grounding or earthing.
2. Earthing provides a safety measure for electrical circuits and
appliances.
3. A thick metal plate is buried deep into the earth and thick
wires are drawn from this plate; these are used in buildings
for the purpose of earthing near the mains supply.
4. The electric wiring in our houses has three wires: live,
neutral and earth. The first two carry electric current from
the power station and the third is earthed by connecting it to
the buried metal plate.
5. Metallic bodies of the electric appliances such as electric
iron, refrigerator, TV are connected to the earth wire.
Electric dipole: Two equal and opposite charges separated by a very small
distance constitute an electric dipole. Water, ammonia, carbon−dioxide
and chloroform molecules are some examples of permanent electric
dipoles.
The law states that the total flux of the electric field E over any closed
surface is equal to 1/ ε0 times the net charge enclosed by the surface.
This closed imaginary surface is called Gaussian surface. Gauss’s law tells
us that the flux of E through a closed surface S depends only on the value
of net charge inside the surface and not on the location of the charges.
Charges outside the surface will not contribute to flux
The law implies that the total electric flux through a closed surface is zero
if no charge is enclosed by the surface.
Hence, electric flux through one face of the cube i.e., through the square
is
φ = 1/6 x q/ε0
= 1.88 x 10 5 N m 2 C–1
Therefore, electric flux through the square is 1.88 × 105 N m2 C–1
ST. BRITTO'S ACADEMY, CLASS XII PHYSICS 53
APPLICATIONS OF GAUSS’S LAW
Field due to an infinitely long straight uniformly charged wire
It can be seen from the equation that, the electric field at a point outside
the shell will be the same as if the total charge on the shell is concentrated
at its centre.