11/23/2013

SPH4U
UNIVERSITY PHYSICS
ELECTRIC, GRAVITATIONAL, & ... FIELDS
L Coulomb’s Law
(P.327-329)

Electric Force

If you drop a tennis ball, the force of gravity

is responsible for its fall. It will take ~ 1 s for
the tennis ball to fall from a height of 5 m.
How long do you think it will take the tennis
ball to stop as it hits the ground? It will take
a lot less time than the time it took to fall.

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 1

Electric Force

PRACTICE
1. What force is responsible for making the
tennis ball stop?

The electric force of repulsion between

the protons in the tennis ball and the
protons in the ground stop it. As such,
this electric force must be significantly
stronger than gravity.

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 2

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Electric Force

Recall that charged objects attract some objects and repel other objects at
a distance, without making any contact with those objects. However, the
exact nature of electrostatic force is complex.

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 3

Coulomb’s Experiment

In 1785, French scientist Charles Coulomb used a torsion balance (similar

in design to the one used by Cavendish) to analyze the electrostatic force
between two charged pith balls.

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 4

Coulomb’s Experiment

By altering (a) the distance between the two charged spheres and (b) the
charges on the spheres, and carefully measuring the angle of rotation in
each case, Coulomb was able to determine the relationship between
electric force, distance, and charge.

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 5

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Coulomb’s Law

Coulomb's Law
The force between two point charges is inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between the charges and directly proportional to
the product of the charges.

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 6

Coulomb’s Law

NOTE!
The direction of the electric force on each of the charges is along the line
that connects the two charges, as shown.

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 7

Coulomb’s Law

COULOMB’S LAW

kq1q2
FE =
r2

where FE is the electrostatic force between two charged objects (N)

k is Coulomb’s constant (8.99 x 109 N@m2/C2)
q is the charge on each of the objects (C)
r is the distance between the centres of the objects (m)

NOTE!
The value of FE applies only to point charges (i.e. the sizes of the
particles are much smaller than their distance of separation).

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 8

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Coulomb’s Law

PRACTICE
1. Suppose you have two boxes of electrons, each with a total charge of
qT = -1.8 x 108 C separated by a distance of 1.0 m. Determine the
magnitude of the electric force between the two boxes. (For simplicity,
assume that each box is so small that it can be modelled as a point
charge.)

FE = 2.9 x 1026 N 7 This is an extremely large force, all from just

two small containers of electrons. Why
doesn’t electric force dominate everyday life?

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 9

Coulomb’s Law

The fact that electric force does not dominate everyday life is that it is
essentially impossible to obtain a box containing only electrons. Ordinary
matter consists of equal, or nearly equal, numbers of electrons and
protons. The total charge is therefore either zero or very close to zero. At
the atomic and molecular scales, however, it is common to have the
positive and negative charges (nuclei and electrons) separated by a small
distance. In this case, the electric force is not zero, and these electric
forces hold matter together.

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 10

Coulomb’s Law

PRACTICE
2. A small sphere, carrying a charge of -8.0 :C, exerts an attractive force
of 0.50 N on another sphere carrying a charge of magnitude 5.0 :C.
(Note: : = x 10-6 )
(a) What is the sign of the second charge?

(a) +ve since the force is attractive and the other charge is –ve

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 11

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Coulomb’s Law

PRACTICE
2. A small sphere, carrying a charge of -8.0 :C, exerts an attractive force
of 0.50 N on another sphere carrying a charge of magnitude 5.0 :C.
(Note: : = x 10-6 )
(b) What is the distance of separation of the centres of the spheres?

(b) r = 0.85 m

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 12

Coulomb’s Law

PRACTICE
3. Two charged spheres, 5.0 cm apart, attract each other with a force of
24 N. Determine the magnitude of the charge on each, if one sphere
has four times the charge (of the opposite sign) as the other.

q1 = 1.3 :C & q2 = 5.2 :C

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 13

Coulomb’s Law

PRACTICE
4. Two oppositely charged objects exert a force of attraction of 8.0 N on
each other. What will be the new force of attraction if:
(a) the charge on one object is halved? 4.0 N (F x ½)
(b) the charge on one object is tripled? 24 N (F x 3)
(c) the charge on each object is doubled? 32 N (F x 2 x 2)
(d) the distance between the charges is doubled? 2.0 N (F x 1/22)

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 14

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Comparing Coulomb’s Law & Universal Gravitation

The equation for Coulomb’s law may seem familiar to you – this is because
it is very similar to the universal law of gravitation.

kq1q2 Gm1m2
FE = & FG =
r2 r2

Î Both laws describe forces between two objects.

Ï Both are non-contact forces.
Ð Both forces become weaker as the distance, r, between the objects
increases (and vice versa).
Ñ Both forces become stronger as the amount of charge/mass of either
object increases (and vice versa)

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 15

Comparing Coulomb’s Law & Universal Gravitation

Although there are similarities between electric and gravitational forces,

there are also important differences.

Î Gravitational forces are always attractive. The direction of electric

forces depends on the types of charge (unlike charges attract while like
charges repel).

Ï The magnitude of the electric force is much greater than the

magnitude of the gravitational force over the same distance. For
example, you do not see uncharged pith balls moving toward each
other under the action of their mutual gravitational attraction.

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 16

Comparing Coulomb’s Law & Universal Gravitation

COULOMB’S LAW & UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION

similarities:
• both are non-contact forces

• as r 8 , F 9 (and vice versa)

• as q or m 8 , F 8 (and vice versa)
differences:
• while Fg is always attractive, FE can be attractive or repulsive
• FE >> Fg

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 17

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U Check Your Learning

TEXTBOOK
P.333 Q.1-3,6

November 23, 2013 4U3 - Coulomb's Law 18