Electricity and Magnetism Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering core definitions and terms from the lecture notes on electricity, magnetism, electric fields, and charging methods.

Magnetic Field

An invisible surrounding space created by magnets where magnetic forces push or pull on other materials.

Magnetic Domains

Small regions in a material where atomic dipoles point in a single direction, achieving local magnetic saturation.

Uniform Magnetic Field

A magnetic field in which the magnetic field lines are equal distance apart from each other.

Geomagnetic Field

Earth's magnetic field that extends millions of kilometers into outer space and resembles the magnetic field of a bar magnet.

Coulomb

The unit of measurement of electric charge.

Electrically Neutral

The state of a body when it possesses equal quantities of positive and negative charges.

Conductor

A material that allows electrons to move through it easily due to having free electrons not bound to a particular atom.

Insulator

A material through which electrons cannot easily flow.

Charging by Friction

The process of transferring electrons from one insulator to another by rubbing two different insulators together.

Charging by Conduction

The process of charging a conductor by touching a charged particle directly to the conductive material.

Charging by Induction

A method of charging an object without physical contact by holding a charged particle near an uncharged conductive material that is grounded.

Static Charges

Electric charges which remain still on an object.

Electric Current

A flow of electric charges.

Coulomb's Law

The law stating that the force between two charges is directly proportional to their magnitudes and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them: $F = \frac{1}{4\pi\varepsilon} \frac{Q_1 Q_2}{r^2}$.

Permittivity

The constant of proportionality ($\varepsilon$) in Coulomb's Law that depends on the medium, measured in $\text{N}^{-1}\text{C}^2\text{m}^{-2}$ or Farads per metre ($\text{Fm}^{-1}$).

Electric Field

A region of space in which an electric charge experiences a force.

Electric Field Lines

Lines used to represent the direction and magnitude of an electric field, directed from positive charges to negative charges.

Van der Graaff Generator

A device used to demonstrate electric field patterns around a conducting sphere using attached streamers.