Electrostatics

Flashcards for Electrostatics background knowledge review.

Neutral Object

An object with an equal number of electrons and protons, resulting in no net charge.

Positively Charged Object

An object that is electron deficient.

Negatively Charged Object

An object that has an excess of electrons.

Tribo-electric Charging

A process by which objects (insulators) can be charged by contact (or rubbing).

Principle of Conservation of Charge

The total electric charge in an isolated system remains constant.

Principle of Quantization of Charge

All other charges in the universe consist of an integer multiple of the charge of one electron.

Coulomb's Law (in words)

Two point charges exert forces on each other. The force is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the charges.

Coulomb's Law (mathematical representation)

F = k * (q1q2) / r² for point charges in free space or air