All of us have the experience of seeing a spark or hearing a crackle when we take off our synthetic clothes or sweaters, particularly in dry weather. Have you ever tried to find any explanation for this phenomenon? It can be attributed to electric charges.
In this EduRev document, we will delve into the concepts of Electric Charges and Fields, specifically focusing on their definition, formula, properties, unit, and more, as covered in Class 12 Physics.
Electric charge is a fundamental property of matter that determines how it interacts with other charged matter and electric fields. This property is carried by subatomic particles, with protons carrying a positive charge, electrons a negative charge, and neutral particles having no charge.
Two kinds of electric charges are there:
Positive Charge: When an object has a positive charge it means that it has more protons than electrons.
Negative Charge: When an object has a negative charge it means that it has more electrons than protons.
When there is an identical number of positive and negative charges, the negative and positive charges would cancel out each other and the object would become neutral.
The electric charge is measured using a coulomb.
“One coulomb is the quantity of charge transferred in one second.”
Mathematically, the definition of a coulomb is represented as:
Q = I.t
In the equation, Q is the electric charge, I is the electric current and t is the time.
A charge is a derived physical quantity. The charge is measured in coulomb in the S.I. unit.
In practice we use:
Note:
- Charge of a single electron = -1.602 × 10-19 C
- Charge of a single proton = + 1.602 × 10-19 C
- Charge of a single neutron = 0 C
No, electric charge is a scalar quantity.
Coulomb's Law is a fundamental principle in physics that describes the electrostatic force between electrically charged particles.
According to Coulomb's Law, we know that: The electrostatic force (F) is directly proportional to the product of the charges (q1 and q2).
F ∝ q1 * q2
The electrostatic force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance (r) between the two charges.
F ∝ 1 / r^2
Combining these, we obtain:
F ∝ (q1 * q2) / r2
If we remove the proportionality sign, we introduce a proportionality constant 'k,' also known as Coulomb's Constant. The value of this constant depends on the permittivity (ε) of the medium.
The value of 'k' is given by:
k = 1 / (4π * ε₀), where ε₀ is the permittivity of vacuum.
For any other medium between the two charges, we can determine the value of Coulomb's constant as:
k = 1 / (4π * εᵣ * ε₀), where εᵣ is the permittivity of the medium and ε₀ is the permittivity of the medium with respect to vacuum.
Example 1: Two charges, q1= 2 C and q2 = 5 C, are separated by a distance of 10 cm. Calculate the force between them.
Solution:
Using Coulomb's Law:
F = k(q1q2)/r²
F = (9 × 109 N·m²/C²) × (2 C × 5 C)/(0.1 m)²
F = 9 × 109 N
Therefore, the force between the two charges is 9 × 109 N.
Example 2: Two charges, q1 = -3 × 10-6 C and q2 = 4 × 10-6 C, are separated by a distance of 20 cm. Calculate the force between them.
Solution:
Using Coulomb's Law:
F = k(q1q2)/r²
F = (9 × 109 N·m²/C²) × (-3 × 10-6 C × 4 × 10-6 C)/(0.2 m)²
F = -2.7 × 10-4 N
Therefore, the force between the two charges is -2.7 × 10-4 N, indicating an attractive force due to the opposite signs of the charges.
Example 3: Two identical Conducting spheres having unequal opposite charges attract each other with a force of 3.15 N when separated by 0.2 m. The sphere experiences a force of repulsion of 0.625 N when they are made to touch for moment and then placed at a distance 0.3 m apart. Find the initial charge on each sphere.
Solution:
Let us assume that initial charges on spheres are +q1 and −q2 Coulomb. Coulomb force between two spheres when they are placed in vacuum at a distance r is given by
In first case, from coulomb's law
In second case, when the spheres touch each other for a moment then charge flows from sphere with higher to the sphere with lower charge until the charge on both the spheres become same. Since the spheres are identical so both will acquire equal charge. Since q1 is positive and q2 is negative, charges must be added algebraically. Therefore, new charge on both the spheres would be
also, from Coulomb's law
1. Like charges repel each other and unlike charges attract each other. (As Electric Charge comes in two varieties, which are called “plus” and “minus”.)
2. Electric Charge is a scalar quantity: It follows scalar laws of operations, i.e. it adds algebraically and represents the excess of electrons in a negatively charged atom or a deficiency of electrons in a positively charged atom.
3. A charge is transferable: Electric charge can be transferred from one body to another, but there is a restriction to the charge transfer. Only electrons are transferred from one body to another because protons are tightly bound to the nucleus of every atom. Hence, the body which loses electrons in the transfer becomes positively charged, and the body which receives electrons becomes negatively charged.
- A neutral body has a number of electrons = number of protons
- A positively charged body has a number of electrons < number of protons
- A negatively charged body has a number of electrons > number of protons.
4. Charge is always conserved: In an isolated system, the total charge (sum of positive and negative) remains constant whatever charge transfer takes place in the system internally. It is called the principle of charge conservation.Conservation of charge
5. Charge is quantized: Charge on anybody always exists in integral multiples of a fundamental unit of electric charge. This unit is equal to the magnitude of the charge on one electron (1e = 1.6 × 10-19 C). So charge on anybody Q = ± ne, where n is an integer and e is the charge on a single electron. This was proved by Millikan's oil drop experiment.
6. Charge is always associated with mass: Yes! Electrons, Protons and Neutrons also have masses.
Their value is determined, experimentally, to be following:
Mass of an electron = 9.109 × 10-31 Kg = 5.49 × 10-4 amu
Mass of a proton = 1.6726 × 10-27 Kg = 1.007 amu
Mass of a neutron = 1.6749 × 10-27 Kg = 1.008 amu
7. Charge is relativistically invariant: This means that charge is independent of the frame of reference, i.e., the charge on a body does not change whatever be its speed. This property is worth mentioning as in contrast to charge, the mass of a body depends on its speed and increases with an increase in speed. You will be exposed to this property later when you will learn The Special Theory of Relativity.
8. A charge at rest produces an only an electric field around itself: A charge at rest creates a region of influence called an Electric Field around itself in space.Electric field lines
Charged Comb attracting small pieces of paper
Static electricity refers to an imbalance between the electric charges in a body, specifically the imbalance between the negative and the positive charges on a body.
Q.1. Why have we defined only two types of charges? Why not three or more?
Only two kinds of electric charges exist because any unknown charge that is found experimentally to be attracted to a positive charge is also repelled by a negative charge. No one has ever observed a charged object that is repelled by both a positive and a negative charge.
Q.2. What happens
(a) When two like charges are brought together?
(b) When two, unlike charges, are brought together?
(a) When two like charges are brought together, they repel each other with an electrostatic force.
(b) When two, unlike charges, are brought together, they attract each other with an electrostatic force.
Q.3. What does neutral in electric charge mean?
Neutral does not refer to any third type of charge. It is the absence of any excess or deficiency of electrons in a body, i.e. the number of electrons = number of protons.
Q.4. Does the mass of the body get affected while charging?
Yes, the mass of the body gets affected because electrons have a definite mass, so the mass of the body slightly increases when it gains electrons while the mass decreases when it loses electrons.
Q.5. Two identical metallic spheres of exactly equal masses are taken. One is given a positive charge q coulombs and the other an equal negative charge. Are their masses after charging equal?
No, A body is positively charged due to the deficit of electrons while the negative charge is due to a surplus of electrons. Hence, the mass of the negatively charged sphere will be slightly more than that of the positively charged sphere.
Q.6. During a nuclear reaction, what happens to electric charge?
In the event of a nuclear reaction, the electric charge is conserved considering an isolated system. This is true for any nuclear or chemical reaction. In a nuclear reaction, the parent nuclei undergo a transformation into daughter nuclei, but the total algebraic charge remains constant.
Q.7. Explain the statement: ‘For a body, an electric charge is quantized.
Considering a particular body, ‘electric charge is quantized’ refers to the number of electrons which can be transferred from that body to another. It should be noted that charges don’t get transported in fractions. Therefore, the overall charge on a body is simply an integral multiple of charge on an electron.
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