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Phenomena associated with electricity and magnetism are found throughout nature
That all these phenomena are related was not always appreciated. Eventually, it was recognized that there are two different phenomena – electricity and magnetism – and then later still, the connection between them was found.
Nowadays we talk about electromagnetism or E&M.
It was known in antiquity that if you rub certain materials, such as amber, the material acquired the ability to influence other objects.
Such materials were called ‘electrics’.
Rubbing electrics charges the material.
Later it was found that electrics came in two kinds that Benjamin Franklin called positive and negative.
The two kinds of charges are such that:
The source of the charge on the electric materials was solved with the discovery of the particle we call electron. Electrons have negative charge so
Later, after the acceptance of the existence of atoms, the positively charged part of the atom was found. Our modern picture is that:
The charge of the proton is exactly opposite that of the electron. The electrons are held to the nucleus by their opposite electric charges.
Conductors cannot be charged (or charged much) by rubbing because any electrons the conductor loses/acquires are quickly regained/lost.
A much better way to put a large charge on a conductor is by the method of induction.
The conductor we wish to charge is placed in contact with another conductor (e.g. the Earth).
An object which is already charged is brought close to the conductor we wish to charge.
Electrons either flow onto or away from the conductor we wish to charge depending on the charge of the object we have brought nearby.
The conductor we wish to charge is then disconnected from the second conductor.
Charging by induction occurs during thunderstorms.
For all atoms, the charge center for the electrons coincides with the nucleus.
But if a charged atom (ion) is nearby, the charge center for the electrons shifts and the atom becomes polarized.
This arrangement of a positive and negative charge of equal size separated by some distance is called a dipole.
Polarization of atoms/molecules in a material plus the distance dependence in Coulomb’s Law means a charge object can attract other objects
The plastic comb has a positive charge. When it is brought close to the piece of paper, it polarizes the paper.
Polarization also explains why a rubbed balloon can stick to a wall.
The modern way of thinking about the Coulomb force is that a charge fills the space around itself with an electric field.
Another charge (a test charge) placed in the field will experience a force from the charge that created the field.
For an electric dipole the field looks like:
Since the electrons in a conductor are free to move, there can be no electric field inside the conductor.
If a conductor is charged, all the charge resides on the outside of the conductor.
Surrounding an object with a conductor shields the object from electric fields.
Enclosures which shield objects from electric fields are called Faraday Cages.
The Coulomb force is a conservative force which means it has a potential energy.
The change in the electric potential energy is the negative of the work done by the Coulomb force as the distance between two charges is changed.
Consider two positive charges which are brought closer together.
The Coulomb force does negative work → the electric potential energy of the charges increases.
If instead, you move the charges apart, the Coulomb force does positive work and the potential energy decreases
If one of the charges changes sign, the direction of the Coulomb force is reversed:
The potential energy of a test charge of 1 coulomb at a given location is called the potential of the field at that location
The SI unit of potential is the volt, the symbol is V.
A capacitor is a device which stores electrical potential energy.
The simplest capacitor is two parallel conducting plates.
One plate has a charge +Q, the other has a charge -Q
There is a voltage difference V between the two plates.
The energy stored in the capacitor is
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