Static Electricity Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering fundamental definitions, properties, and equations from static electricity notes.

Charge ($q$)

A physical property of a body due to which it exerts electrostatic forces on other charged particles.

Law of Electrostatics

A fundamental rule stating that like charges repel each other and unlike charges attract each other.

Coulomb ($C$)

The SI unit of electric charge.

Electron Charge

The negative charge carried by a single electron, equal to $-1.6 \times 10^{-19}\text{ C}$.

Proton Charge

The positive charge carried by a single proton, equal to $+1.6 \times 10^{-19}\text{ C}$.

Neutral Atom

An atom consisting of an equal number of positive protons and negative electrons, resulting in a net charge of zero.

Negative Charged Ion

An atom that has gained one or more electrons, resulting in a higher number of electrons than protons.

Positive Charged Ion

An atom that has lost one or more electrons, resulting in a higher number of protons than electrons.

Charge Formula ($q = ne$)

An equation where $q$ represents total charge in Coulombs ($C$), $n$ represents the number of electrons lost or gained, and $e$ represents the electronic charge ($1.6 \times 10^{-19}\text{ C}$).

Conductor

A material that allows electric charges to pass through it due to having freely moving, mobile electrons.

Insulator

A material that does not allow electric charges to pass through it because its electrons are tightly held by their nuclei.

Earthing

The process where a charged conductor loses its charge by being connected to the Earth directly or through a wire.

Charging by Friction

The process of charging insulators by rubbing them together, where friction generates heat energy that enables electrons to break bonds and transfer between materials.

Lightning Conductor

A metal rod installed on top of tall buildings to safely route lightning strikes directly to the ground without damaging the building.

Electric Field

A region of space around a charged object in which another electric charge experiences an electrostatic force.

Direction of an Electric Field

The direction of the electrostatic force that acts on a positive test charge placed at a point in the field.

Null Point

A point in space between like charges where the electric field lines cancel out and a charged particle experiences zero force.