electric charge, coulomb's law, electric fields, and electric flux

Static electricity

an example of this is when you remove your clothes from the dryer where many, but not all of them, stick together.

Electric charges

determines how strong the interaction between the two charged objects, whether it is positive or negative

law of charges

like charges repel each other, and unlike charges attract each other.

Coulomb (C)

The charges of subatomic particles are measured in terms of elementary charges or e.

1 C = 6.242 × 10^18e

The relationship of e and coulomb

Conductors

are the materials which charges can move freely. In contrary, nonconductors are commonly called insulators, are those who has the opposite property — charges cannot move freely.

Insulators

also called nonconductors and it is where charges cannot move freely

Charging by conduction

consider two neutrally charged objects, A and B. The charges of A is evenly distributed throughout the whole material. But when a strongly negative object is brought near A, the negative charges of A will move farther from where B is. Subsequently, the opposite charge (positive) of A will be attracted to the side near B.

a process where a neutral object becomes charged through direct physical contact with a charged object.

Charging by induction

a method of charging an object without direct physical contact with a charged object. It involves bringing a charged object near a neutral conductor, causing a redistribution of charges within the conductor due to electrostatic forces, a process known as polarization.

6.242 × 10^18e

Relationship of Coulomb to e

elementary charges

the charges of subatomic particles measured in “e”

Charge is quantized

The magnitude of charge is independent of the type

Charge is conserved

Charge is conserved in closed systems

Properties of electric charges

Charge is quantized

Electric charges are quantifiable, thus, it is a discrete variable. The smallest amount that a charge can have, in SI units, is e=1.602 ×10^(-19)  C. This means that there are no other free particle that has a lesser charge than the stated quantity

The magnitude of the charge is independent of the type

. Rephrasing the first property, the smallest positive charge (rounded of to four significant figures) is +1.602 ×10^(-19)  C while the smallest negative charge is -1.602 ×10^(-19)  C; these two values are exactly equal. (Note: The + and – signs determine the type of charge, not the value of the charge).

Charge is conserved.

Similar to the law of conservation of energy, electric charges cannot be created, nor destroyed; it can only be transferred from one object to another.

Charge is conserved in closed systems.

Talking about the aforementioned property, if a negative charge disappeared in the lab bench and reappeared on the moon, the conservation of charge still exists, but this phenomenon never happens. The changing total charge in some local system is caused by the flowing in and out of charges in the system. Charges can be free to move around, they can be cancelled, but the net charged of a closed local system is conserved. This is referred as the law of conservation of charge.

Charging by rubbing

Two electrically neutral objects can gain its charge using rubbing or friction.

Triboelectric Series

This series is a list of common materials that were used in experiments to identify its behavior, talking about their acquired charges. When the objects are rubbed together, the material mentioned first will lose its electrons and the latter will gain a negative charge.

electrostatic force

Going back to the concept of law of charges where unlike charges attract and the same repels, the force that acts upon it is called

Superposition Principle

States that the net force of all charges is equal to the individual forces of each pair of electrical charges.

Electrical field

a physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles and exerts a force on other charged particles within its influence

Electric Flux

An electric field is represented by lines to indicate the movement from a positive to a negative charge. The flow of the electric field in a specific area is measured in:

Gauss’s Law

The electric flux of any closed surface is equal to the net charge enclosed in the surface divided by the permittivity of the free space