1/19
Flashcards for Electrostatics
Name | Mastery | Learn | Test | Matching | Spaced |
---|
No study sessions yet.
Fundamental property of matter with two types: Positive (+) and Negative (-). Like charges repel, opposite charges attract.
Electric Charge
Total charge remains constant in a closed system; charge is transferred, not created/destroyed.
Law of Conservation of Charge
Materials where electrons move freely, allowing charge to spread on the surface.
Conductor
Materials where electrons are bound, keeping charge localized.
Insulator
Charging by rubbing two materials together.
Charging by Friction
Charging by direct contact between charged and uncharged objects.
Charging by Conduction
Charging without direct contact, through the influence of an electric field.
Charging by Induction
Describes the force between two point charges; attractive if charges are opposite, repulsive if charges are alike.
Coulomb's Law
The principle that the total force on a charge is the vector sum of the forces from all other charges.
Superposition Principle
Region around a charged object where a force would be exerted on other charged objects.
Electric Field
Lines that represent the direction and strength of an electric field; away from positive charges and toward negative charges.
Electric Field Lines
The amount of work done per unit charge to move a test charge in an electric field; a scalar quantity.
Electric Potential
Surfaces where the electric potential is constant; always perpendicular to electric field lines.
Equipotential Surfaces
A law that relates the electric field to the distribution of electric charge; useful for symmetric charge distributions.
Gauss's Law
In electrostatics, the electric field inside is zero, excess charge resides on the surface, and the surface is an equipotential.
Conductors in Electrostatics
Conductors block external electric fields; used in Faraday cages.
Shielding
The ratio of charge to potential difference in a capacitor; measured in Farads (F).
Capacitance
A measure of a material's ability to reduce the electric field inside a capacitor, thereby increasing capacitance.
Dielectrics
Two equal and opposite charges separated by a distance.
Electric Dipoles
A vector quantity representing the orientation and magnitude of an electric dipole.
Dipole Moment