Electricity Notes

Electricity
What is electricity?
Electricity is a natural phenomenon that occurs throughout nature and
takes many different forms.
To understand the fundamentals of electricity, we need to begin by
focusing in on atoms, one of the basic building blocks of life and
matter.
Structure of the atom
Atoms consist of a nucleus and electron orbital shells
Particles in the nucleus

Neutrons – neutral charge (green)
Protons – positive charge (orange)
Particles in the shells

Electron – negative charge (yellow)
Charge of particles
The fundamental electrical property to which the mutual
attractions or repulsions between electrons or protons is
attributed is called charge.
By convention, electrons are negatively charged and

protons positively charged.
Neutrons have no charge, and are neither attracted nor
repelled by charged particles.
Important facts about atoms
1. Every atom has a positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged
electrons.
2. All electrons are identical.
3. The nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons. All protons are identical;
similarly, all neutrons are identical.
4. Atoms usually have as many electrons as protons, so the atom has zero net charge.
Important facts about atoms
Note: A proton has nearly 2000 times the mass of an
electron, but its positive charge is equal in magnitude to
the negative charge of the electron.
Fundamental Rule of Charge
1. Like charges repel
2. Opposite charges attract
Neutral Atoms
Electrons and protons have electric charge.
In a neutral atom, there are as many electrons as
protons, so there is no net charge.
2 electrons = 2 negative
2 protons = 2 positive
Net charge is zero = stable

Charged objects
An object that has unequal numbers of electrons and protons is
electrically charged.
If an electron is removed from an atom, the atom is no longer
neutral. It has one more positive charge than negative charge.
There is an imbalance of charges.
A charged atom is called an ion.
A positive ion has a net positive charge; it has
lost one or more electrons.
A negative ion has a net negative charge; it

has gained one or more extra electrons.
How electrons are transferred
Electrons are being transferred by friction
when one material rubs against another.
Electrons can also be transferred from one

material to another by simply touching.
Phet simulation
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/h
tml/balloons-and-static-
electricity/latest/balloons-and-
static-electricity_en.html
Force between charged objects
The electrical force between any two objects obeys a
similar inverse-square relationship with distance.
The relationship among electrical force, charges, and

distance—Coulomb’s law—was discovered by the
French physicist Charles Coulomb in the eighteenth
century.
Coulomb’s Law
For charged objects, the force between the charges varies
directly as the product of the charges and inversely as the square
of the distance between them.
Where:
d is the distance between the charged particles.
q1 represents the quantity of charge of one particle.
q2 is the quantity of charge of the other particle.
k is the proportionality constant (8.99 x 109 Nm2/C2)
Coulomb
The SI unit of charge is the coulomb, abbreviated C.
A charge of 1 C is the charge of 6.24 × 1018 electrons.
6,240,000,000,000,000,000 electrons
A coulomb represents the amount of charge that passes through a
common 100-W light bulb in about one second.
Conductor and Insulator
Materials through which electric charge can flow are
called conductors.
Outer electrons of the atoms in a metal are not anchored
to the nuclei of particular atoms, but are free to roam in the
material.
Metals are good conductors for the motion of electric
charges because their electrons are “loose.”
Insulators are materials that tightly bound their electrons
to the nucleus and are not free to wander.
Materials such as rubber or glass.
These materials are poor conductors of electricity.

Electrons move easily in good conductors and

poorly in good insulators.
Induction
If a charged object is brought near a conducting surface, even
without physical contact, electrons will move in the conducting
surface.
Induction
Charging by induction can be illustrated
using two insulated metal spheres.
Uncharged insulated metal spheres touching
each other, in effect, form a single
noncharged conductor.
Induction
When a negatively charged rod is held near one
sphere, electrons in the metal are repelled by
the rod.
Excess negative charge has moved to the other
sphere, leaving the first sphere with an excess
positive charge.
The charge on the spheres has been
redistributed, or induced.
Induction
When the spheres are separated and the
rod removed, the spheres are charged
equally and oppositely.
They have been charged by induction,

which is the charging of an object
without direct contact.
Electric Field
It is a region around a charged particle or object
within which a force would be exerted on other
charged particles or objects.
Electric Field
The space around a concentration of
electric charge is different from how it
would be if the charge were not there. If
you walk by the charged dome of an
electrostatic machine—a Van de Graaff
generator, for example—you can sense
the charge. Hair on your body stands
out—just a tiny bit if you’re more than a
meter away, and more if you’re closer. The
space is said to contain a force field.
Electric Field
An electric field has both magnitude and direction. The magnitude can be
measured by its effect on charges located in the field.
Imagine a small positive “test charge” placed in an electric field.
Where the force is greatest on the test charge, the field is strongest.
Where the force on the test charge is weak, the field is small.
Direction of the field
The direction of an electric field at any
point, by convention, is the direction
of the electrical force on a small
positive test charge.
If the charge that sets up the field is
positive, the field points away from
that charge.
If the charge that sets up the field is https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/charges-
and-fields/latest/charges-and-fields_en.html
negative, the field points toward that
charge.
Calculating the Electric Field Strength
E = electric field strength

Q = charge
d = distance
k = 9.0 x 109 Nm2 / C2
(technically: 8.99 x 109)
Examples
The electric field strength in a region is 2,200 N/C. What is the force on an
object with a charge of 0.0040 C?
Examples
The electric field strength in a region is 2,200 N/C. What is the force on an
object with a charge of 0.0040 C?
Example
The electric field strength in a region is 2,200 N/C. What is the force on
an object with a charge of 0.0040 C?
What equation are we going to use?
E=F/q
E = 2200 N/C
q = 0.0040 C
F=?
Rearrange the equation and we get F = Eq
F = (2200)(0.0040) = 8.8 N
Example
If two charges (q1= 2.3mC & q2=1.0mC) are placed 0.50m apart what
force is experienced by q1? By q2?
Example
If two charges (q1= 2.3mC & q2=1.0mC) are placed 0.50m apart what
force is experienced by q1? By q2?
𝑞1 𝑞2
𝐹=𝑘 2 q1q2
𝑑 F =k 2
𝑘 = 9.0 × 109 𝑁𝑚2 /𝐶 2 d
𝑞1 = 2.3𝑚𝐶 (
F = 9.0 10 
9
)
 (0.0023)(0.0010) 

 
2
𝑞2 = 1.0𝑚𝐶 0 .5
𝑑 = 0.5𝑚
F = 82800 N
Example
What is the field strength 2.0m away from a -0.060C charge? Is the field directed
towards or away from the charge?
Example
What is the field strength 2.0m away from a -0.060C charge? Is the field
directed towards or away from the charge?
kQ kQ
E= 2 E= 2
d d
k = 9.0 109 Nm 2 / C 2 (9.0 109 )(−0.060)
E=
Q = −0.060C 2 2
d = 2m E = −1.35 10 N / C
8
Since the charge is negative, the direction would be towards the charge.
Question
1. What is electricity?
2. What are the three particles contained in an atom?
3. What is an ion?
4. What are the two ways electrons can be transferred?
5. What is the equation for Coulomb’s Law?
6. What is the difference between a conductor and an insulator?
7. What is an electric field?
8. What are the equations for the strength of an electric field?

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Electricity

Particles in the nucleus

Particles in the shells

By convention, electrons are negatively charged and

Net charge is zero = stable

A negative ion has a net negative charge; it

Electrons can also be transferred from one

The relationship among electrical force, charges, and

Materials such as rubber or glass.

These materials are poor conductors of electricity.

Electrons move easily in good conductors and

They have been charged by induction,

E = electric field strength

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