ELECTROSTATICS

Lesson 1
 Electrostatics
• Electrostatics is a branch of Physics
(Electricity) that studies interaction
between static (motionless)
charges;
• There are two types of charges –
positive "+" and negative "-";
• Elementary charge, e - is charge of
electron =-1.6× 10−19 C;
• Electron is negatively charged
particle that orbits positively
charges nucleus.
 Electrostatics
• Electric charge can be transferred from charged body to non-charged once;
• This can happen as a result of contact, friction and induction;
• Law of charges:
• Same charges repel, opposite charges attract;
• Law of conservation of electric charge:
• Electric charge of a system is conserved.
 Electrostatics
• Charging by contact:
1. As the neutrally charged ball gets in contact with the rod, electrons in the ball repel to
the far side of the ball, and positive charges accumulate on the right side, attracting to
the rod.
2. As they get in contact positive charges relocate from ball to the rod, leaving metal ball
total charge - "-" (negative)!
P.S. charging by contact leaves charged object with the same type of charge as that on the
charging object.
 Electrostatics
• Charging by friction:
1. When a polythene rod is rubbed vigorously with a woolen cloth, a few electrons
travel from the cloth to the rod.
2. The tile therefore becomes negatively charged (excess electrons). The cloth
becomes positively charged (having lost some electrons).
 Electrostatics
• Charging by induction:
1. Metal sphere is located on the insulated support;
2. Presence of negatively charged rod causes charges to distribute on the sphere
(positive move closer to rod, negative repel from the rod);
3. Side of the sphere with negative charges is grounded, removing negative
charges from it. Sphere has net positive charge (it was induced).
 Conductors and insulators
• Metals are very good conductors of electricity;
• The reason for it is that electrons on the outermost shells (farther from
nucleus) are held less tightly by the nucleus;
• That shell is called valance shell, and electrons are valance electrons;
• They are able to leave atom and become free (when some energy, like light,
electric, or thermal energy is applied to the atom);
• As they leave atom, they are called free electrons and atom becomes
positive ion.
 Conductors and insulators
• Insulators are poor conductors of electricity;
• Electrons at all the shells are held very tightly so it's almost impossible for
them to become free;
• Semiconductors have intermediate properties to those between conductors
and insulators. At certain conditions they will behave as conductors and at
some as insulators.
 Application of electrostatics
• Electrostatic spraying:
• As paint particles leave nozzle of the gun they are charged negatively;
• Negative charges repel from each other, so paint distributes in
different directions.
• Car has the same in magnitude but opposite charge, negative paint particles
will attract to car.
 Application of electrostatics
• Photocopier and laser prints:
• A light-sensitive cylindrical drum is charged positively by a charged grid. An
image of the document being copied is projected on to the drum. The areas
on the drum exposed to light lose their positive charge.
• A negatively charged powder, called the toner, is dusted over the drum.
• The toner is attracted to the positively charged image.
• A sheet of paper then receives a positive charge as it passes over the grid.
The positively charged paper attracts toner from the drum and an image is
formed on it.
• The image is made permanent by warming the final product.
 Application of electrostatics
• Dust extraction:
• Positively charged plate –
anode, distributes positive
charges,
• Molecules of the air, soot and
dust absorb positive charge;
• They attract to negatively
charged cathode;
• Air is cleaned from dust.
 Hazards of electrostatics
• Lightning:
• Lightning is a natural discharge that occurs
between two electrically charged regions,
either cloud and cloud or cloud and ground;
• Charges run at very fast speed carrying
over high energy;
• This natural process can be very hazardous;
• To prevent - lightning conductor is used –
it’s a tall metal rod placed in the ground, so
charges can run through it directly.
 Electrical quantities
• Electrical charge - Q, is a physical property of a matter;
• Charge is measured in coulombs, [Q]= C (coulomb);
• Rate of electric charge is an electric current - I (fundamental quantity);
• Unit of electric current – A (ampere), [I]=C/s=A;
I=Q/t
 Electrical quantities
• Electric current is measured by ammeter;
• Ammeter is connected in series to resistor R;
• As the voltage is applied, electrons become free, they start moving in the
circuits;
• Electric charges move from negative towards positively charged plate –
actual direction of current;
• However, direction of conventional current is from positive towards
negative plate (electrons move from higher potential towards lower
potential);
 Electrical quantities
• Potential difference (voltage) - is a physical quantity that shows how much
work electric field is doing to carry over charges from infinity to a point in
space;
• Symbol – V, unit Volt, [V]=J/C= V;
• V=W/Q - work per charge;
• Potential difference is measured using voltmeter;
• Voltmeter is connected in parallel to resistor.
 Electrical quantities
• Drift current is unorganized flow of electrons in the metal conductor under
the influence of electric field;
• Drift velocity is a mean velocity of electrons during drift current;
• Consider conductor of length - L, with cross sectional area – A;
• Current I = Q/t, where total electric charge Q=Ne, where N is number of
particles, e – elementary charge;
 Electrical quantities
• Electric energy W – is a product of potential difference with electric charges;
• W=QV, [W]=CV=J (Joule);
• Knowing that electric charge Q=It, then W=IVt – formula for electric
energy;
• Power is rate of the work done, P=W/t = IV;
 Electrical quantities
• Resistance – is a property of material which represents collisions of free
electrons with atomic ions while electrons flow;
• Resistance R=V/I, [R]=V/A = Ω (Ohm), this relation between current voltage
and resistance is known as Ohms law: I=V/R;
• Resistance

• Where l – is length of a conductor, A – cross-sectional area, ⍴ - resistivity;

• Unit of resistivity [⍴]=Ωm
 Electrical quantities
• Resistance is proportional to temperature;
• Since resistance is characterized as collision of free
electrons with atomic ions, then the greater
temperature across resistor, the more collisions occur
since kinetic energy of electrons is greater;
• Some resistors, however, have negative temperature
coefficient – thermistors, their resistance is inversely
proportional to temperature.
 Current – voltage diagram
• For ohmic conductor current-voltage graph is straight line, current is
directly proportional to voltage.
 Current – voltage diagram
• For filament bulb current-voltage graph is partially straight line that starts
curving, it happens because as the temperature in filament increases,
resistance is changing so line no longer straight.
 Current – voltage diagram
• For semiconductor diode current-voltage graph is a line for positive values
of current and voltage (about 0.6V) in forward-biased mode, for reverse
biased mode – no current.
 Electrical quantities
• Electromotive force (e.m.f.) - is work that cell in the circuit is doing to
constantly run charges from negative to positive terminal – work per
charge;
• E.m.f. is measured in volts same as voltage;
• Cell has its own resistance, which is very small, so it's usually neglected in
calculations;
• This resistance is called internal resistance;
 Electrical quantities
• When no current is running in the circuit then terminal voltage (voltage of
the cell) is equal to e.m.f;

• But when the current starts flowing, then terminal voltage drops through
internal resistance;

• Where V – terminal voltage, E – e.m.f, I – electric current, r – internal

resistance.
 Electrical quantities
• Consider electrical circuit with the cell of e.m.f.
with internal resistance r, and external resistor of
the circuit with resistance R (we say that two
resistors are in series);
• Power dissipated on external resistor:

• Total power:
 Electrical quantities
• To measure e.m.f and internal resistance
consider circuit on the right;
• Current and voltage are measured in the
experiment directly;
 Electrical quantities
• Graph voltage against current will be plotted;
• Since (y=mx+c), where

then gradient of the graph is negative

internal resistance and e.m.f. - is y-intercept.
Circuit symbols
 Questions
A 1.5V cell delivers a constant charge of 420C for a period of 2.8 × 10^4 s in
a circuit. Calculate:
a the current flowing through the circuit
b the resistance in the circuit
c the total number of electrons flowing during the period of 2.8 × 10^4 s.

Solution:
a I=Q/t=0.015A
b R=V/I=1.5/0.015=100ꭥ
c Since total charge Q=Ne, where N is number of electrons and e
is charge of one electron, then:
N=Q/e=420/(1.6*10^19)=2.63*10^21
 Questions
A student connects his cellular phone to charger for a period of 2 minutes
for a quick charge. The charger delivers a constant current of 300mA.
Calculate:
i.the charge flowing during the period
ii.the number of electrons flowing during the period.

Solution:
a Q=It=0.3(A)*120(s)=36A
b Since total charge Q=Ne, where N is number of electrons and
e is charge of one electron, then:
N=Q/e=36/(1.6*10^19)=2.3*10^20
 Questions
A potential difference of 12V causes 2.4 × 10^18 electrons to flow through
a metallic conductor in 1.2 minutes. Calculate:
a the charge that flowed through the conductor
b the electric current flowing through the conductor
c the resistance of the conductor.

Solution:
a Q=Ne=0.384C
b I=Q/t=0.0053A
c R=V/I=2264.15ꭥ
 Questions
A potential difference of 3V is applied across a piece of copper wire of
length 0.65m and cross- sectional area 2.2 × 10^−9m2 . Calculate:
i.the resistance of the copper wire
ii.the current flowing through the wire
iii.the power dissipated in the wire.
(Resistivity of copper = 1.7 × 10^−8Ωm)

Solution:
a. R=(⍴l)/A=5.02ꭥ (resistance is ratio of product of resistivity and length
of conductor over cross sectional area);
b. I=V/R=0.6A
c. P=IV=1.8W
 Questions
The resistance of a piece of wire of length 12cm and cross-sectional area
of 2.0 × 10^−8m2 is 3.66Ω. Determine the resistivity of this wire.

Solution:
Since R=(⍴l)/A=5.02ꭥ (resistance is ratio of product of resistivity and
length of conductor over cross sectional area), then:
⍴=(RA)/l=2.2*10^7ꭥm