Electric Force, Field, and Potential

Proton

In the nucleus; positive

Electron

Outside the nucleus; negative

Neutron

In the nucleus; no charge

Gravitational Force

Attractive only; weakest of the fundamental forces

Electric Force

Attractive and repulsive; dominates at a smaller scale

Electric Permittivity

Measurement of the degree to which a material or medium is polarized in the presence of an electric field

Electric Polarization

Separation of positive and negative charges within a material or medium

Conductors

Materials in which charge carriers move easily

Insulators

Materials in which charge carriers cannot move easily

In conductors, electrons can …

Move freely

In conductors, electrons are …

Not allowed to move freely

Friction (Triboelectric Charging)

Charging through transferring electrons by rubbing one object with another

Conduction

Charging through movement of charge through an object

Induction

Charging through polarization and the use of grounding

Gravitational Field

An area around a mass where other objects are pulled towards it by gravity

Electric Field

Space around a charged object where other charged objects feel a force

What direction does the electric field points towards?

Away from a positive charge

Electric Field points away from a __________ _________ particle and points towards a ____________ __________ particle.

Positively charged; Negatively charged

What is the electric field in the center of a sphere?

Zero

If you had two metal conducting rods, and one of them had a net negative charge, while one had a net neutral charge, and you touched them together, what would happen?

The negatives spread out onto both rods (equally if they are the same size). This is just charging an object by touching.

If you had two metal conducting rods, and one of them had a net negative charge, while one had a net neutral charge, and you just brought them really close together, what would happen?

The negative charge of the negative rod would be so close the the neutral rod that it's negative charges would shift away from the negative rod, while its positive charges shift towards the negative rod. The neutral rod is now attracted to the negative rod. If you now touch the neutral rod to ground, its electrons will just straight up leave, and now it's positive. This is known as charging by induction.

Electric force is a vector quantity that results from the interaction of …

Two Charges

Electric potential energy is a scalar quantity based on a configuration of how many charges?

Two or more charges

Electric Potential Energy (U)

Energy needed to move a charge against an electric field

What happens to the potential energy of a negative charge as it moves to a more favorable position?

Decreases

Electric Potential (V)

Amount of potential energy at a given point in an electric field

Electric Field vectors points in what direction?

The direction of the decreasing potential

Capacitor

Consist of two separated, parallel, conducting surfaces that can hold equal amounts of charge with opposite signs when placed in a circuit