Static Electricity Flashcards

Flashcards covering key concepts and vocabulary from the static electricity lecture notes.

What happens when charged objects are brought near each other?

Charged objects exert forces, both attractive and repulsive.

What process causes charging?

Charging is the separation, not the creation, of electric charges.

What are the key differences between conductors and insulators?

Conductors allow charges to move freely, while insulators do not.

What factors determine the relationship between electric forces, charges, and distance?

Electric forces are related to the magnitude of charges and the inverse square of the distance between them.

What are the two methods for charging objects?

Objects can be charged by conduction and induction.

How can a charged object attract a neutral object?

Charged objects can induce a separation of charges in a neutral object, leading to attraction.

What is electrostatics?

The study of electric charges that can be collected and held in one place.

What is an insulator?

A material through which a charge will not move easily.

What is a conductor?

A material that allows charges to move about easily.

What is charging by conduction?

Charging a neutral body by touching it with a charged body.

What is charging by induction?

Charging an object without touching it.

What is grounding?

The process of connecting a body to Earth to eliminate excess charge.

What is Coulomb’s law?

The magnitude of the force between charge qA and charge qB, separated by a distance r, is proportional to the magnitude of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

What is a coulomb?

The SI standard unit of charge.

What is elementary charge?

The magnitude of the charge of an electron.

How are electric force and charge related?

Electric force is directly related to each charge. Like charges repel, opposite charges attract.

How are electric force and distance related?

It is inversely related to the square of the distance between charges. The force will be one-ninth as great.

What happens to an electroscope when a charged rod is brought near?

When an electroscope is charged, electric forces cause its thin metal leaves to spread apart.

How do you charge an electroscope positively using a negative rod?

Bring the rod near the electroscope. Ground the electroscope; remove the ground and then remove the rod.

Why are neutral objects attracted to both positively and negatively charged objects?

The nearer, opposite charges will attract more than the more distant, like charges will repel.

What is the effect of moving a charging rod away before removing the ground from the knob?

The electroscope remains neutral.

What is the mathematical expression for Coulomb's Law?

F = K(qAqB)/r^2 where F is the force between two charges, K is Coulomb's constant, qA and qB are the magnitudes of the charges, and r is the distance between them.