Electrostatics, Coulomb’s Law, Charges, and Field Lines Study Guide

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts of electrostatics, charge behavior, Coulomb's Law, and electric field properties.

Electrostatics

The study of charges where protons are positive and electrons are negative, with the fundamental rule that opposites attract and like charges repel.

Grounding

The process where electrons move between objects and in or out of Earth.

Neutral objects

Objects that have equal positive and negative charges and are always attracted to charged objects.

Polarization

A phenomenon where a charge is induced temporarily when a charged object is held near a neutral object.

Conduction

The process of transferring charge through contact, allowing conductors to give away and accept electrons.

Coulomb’s Law

States that the electric force on each charge is directly proportional to the product of the amount of charge and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Coulomb ($C$)

The SI unit for electric charge, named after the French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb.

Electron charge

Possesses a fundamental unit of electric charge equal to $-1.6 \times 10^{-19}\,C$.

Proton charge

Possesses a fundamental unit of electric charge equal to $+1.6 \times 10^{-19}\,C$.

Elementary charge

A fundamental unit of electric charge possessed by particles like electrons and protons that cannot be split into fractional charges.

Electric field

A vector quantity generated by electric charge whose direction is defined by the direction a positive test charge would be pushed.

Electric field lines

Lines that begin on positive charge (or infinity) and end at negative charge (or infinity), where spacing indicates strength and lines never cross.

Electric field strength ($E$)

A measure of the force that an electric field exerts on a unit positive charge, calculated as $E = \frac{Fe}{q}$.

Standard units for electric field strength

Commonly expressed as volts per meter ($V/m$) or newtons per coulomb ($N/C$).