General

Physics 2 12
 General Physics 2 – Grade 12
Quarter 3 – Module 2: Electric Forces and Electric Fields
First Edition, 2020

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General Physics 2 12
Quarter 3
Self-Learning Module 2

Electric Forces and

Electric Fields
Introductory Message

For the Facilitator:

Welcome to the General Physics 2 Grade 12 Self-Learning Module on Electric Forces
and Electric Fields!
This Self-Learning Module was collaboratively designed, developed, and
reviewed by educators from the Schools Division Office of Pasig City headed by its
Officer-in-Charge Schools Division Superintendent, Ma. Evalou Concepcion A.
Agustin, in partnership with the City Government of Pasig through its mayor,
Honorable Victor Ma. Regis N. Sotto. The writers utilized the standards set by the K
to 12 Curriculum using the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) in
developing this instructional resource.
This learning material hopes to engage the learners in guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Further, this also aims to help learners
acquire the needed 21st-century skills especially the 5 Cs, namely: Communication,
Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Character while taking into
consideration their needs and circumstances.
In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the
body of the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies
that will help you in guiding the
learners.

As a facilitator, you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this
module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to
manage their learning. Moreover, you are expected to encourage and assist the
learners as they do the tasks included in the module.
 For the Learner:
Welcome to the General Physics 1 Self-Learning Module on Electric Forces and
Electric Fields!
This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You
will be enabled to process the contents of the learning material while being an active
learner.
This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

Expectations - This points to the set of knowledge and skills that

you will learn after completing the module.

Pretest - This measures your prior knowledge about the lesson at

hand.

Recap - This part of the module provides a review of concepts and

skills that you already know about a previous lesson.

Lesson - This section discusses the topic in the module.

Activities - This is a set of activities that you need to perform.

Wrap-Up - This section summarizes the concepts and application of

the lesson.

Valuing - This part integrates a desirable moral value in the lesson.

Posttest - This measures how much you have learned from the
entire module.

EXPECTATIONS
The module is about electric forces and electric fields.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

 1. calculate the net electric force on a point charge exerted by a system of
point charge;
2. describe the electric field as a region in which an electric charges
experience a force; and
3. determine the electric field due to a system of point charges using
Coulomb’s law and the superposition principle.

PRETEST
Choose the letter of the BEST correct answer. Write the chosen letter in your
notebook.
1. It provides a graphical representation of an electric field
A. graph
B. field lines
C. parabola
D. xy-coordinate
2. When two charges exert forces simultaneously on a third charge, the total
force acting on that charge is the vector sum of the forces that the two
charges would exert individually. This principle is known as the
A. interference of charge
B. Coulomb’s principle
C. superposition of forces
D. superposition of electric field
3. Which of the following will likely occur or happen to the electric field of
force of an isolated positive charge? It will move
A. radially outward
B. radially inward
C. parallel
D. perpendicular
4. An electron immersed in an electric field of 20 N/C. What force does it feel?
A. 3.2 X 10-18 N
B. 2.2 X 10-18 N C. 1.2 X 10-18 N
D. 0.2 X 10-18 N
5. Two charged objects attract each other with a certain force. If the charges
on both objects are doubled with no change in separation, what will
happen to the force between them?
A. quadruples
B. doubles
C. halves
D. increases, but can’t say how much
 RECAP

An atom consists of electrically charged particles such as neutron which is

neutrally charged, proton which is positively charged, and electron which is
negatively charged.
The quantity of charge (q) can be defined in terms of the number of electrons:
The coulomb: 1 C = 6.25 x 1018 electrons Therefore,
the charge on a single electron is:
1 electron: e- = -1.6 x 10-19 C
Give a brief description of each illustration about an electric charge on the
table below:

Interaction of Charges Description

Charging by Rubbing

Charging by Conduction
 Charging by Induction

Unlike charges attract

Like charges repel

LESSON

Pairs of electrical charges interact with

each other according to the Law of Electric
Charge. The attractive or repulsive interaction
between any two charged objects is
an Electric Force (Felectric).

Reference:
https://images.app.goo.gl/WHFzwDETgb8FY3766
 The electric force between two charges is given by Coulomb’s Law. Coulomb’s
law states that the electric force between two charges is proportional to the product
of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

A shorter distance between chargers

will experience a greater electric force, the
farther the distance gives weaker electric
force.
The proportionality constant k for
Coulomb’s law depends on the choice of
units for a charge.
𝒒𝟏 𝒒𝟐
𝑭𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄 = 𝒌
𝒓𝟐
When the charge q is in coulombs,
the distance r is in meters and the force
F is in newtons, we have:
𝐍. 𝐦𝟐
𝟗
𝒌 = 𝟖. 𝟗𝟗 𝐱 𝟏𝟎
𝐂𝟐 Reference:
http s://images.app.goo.gl/F2A62qjb73AfjRS79

Therefore, the unit of electric force is in Newton:

𝑭𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄 = 𝑵 (𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒕𝒐𝒏)

Sample Problem:
The electron and proton of a hydrogen atom are separated (on average) by a distance
of approximately 5.3 x 10 11 m. Find the magnitude of the electric force.

Given:
qe = 1.60 x 10-19 C qp = 1.60
x 10-19 C r = 5.3 x 10 -11 m k
= 8.99 x 10 9 (N.m2)/C2 Felectric
=?
 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education , Inc.
If there are multiple point charges, the forces add by superposition. According
to this superposition principle, the total force acting on a given charge is equal
to the vector sum of forces exerted on it by all the other charges.
Consider a system of n charges, namely q1, q2, q3 ….qn. The force on q1 exerted by
the charge q2,

Here ^r21 is the unit vector from q2 to q1 along the line joining the two charges
and r21 is the distance between the charges q1 and q2. The electrostatic force between
two charges is not affected by the presence of other charges in the neighborhood.

All charged particles

will experience a force around
them. And that region around
an electrical charge particle
where force is detected is
called Electric Field.
The strength of the
electric field is defined to be
the force per unit
charge
experienced by any test point charge. Copyright © https://giphy.com/search/attraction-
electric-charge

Electric Field Strength:

Unit of Electric Field:

Combining the equation of electric field strength and Coulomb’s law, the
electric field strength around a charge is,
 A convenient aid for visualizing
electric field patterns is to draw electric
field lines. They consist of lines drawn
tangent to the electric field vector at any
point. The number of lines drawn being
proportional to the magnitude of the field
strength.
Electric Field Lines are
imaginary lines drawn in such a way
that their direction at any point is the
same as the direction of the field at that
point.
Field lines go away from positive
charges and toward negative charges.
Copyright © https://images.app.goo.gl/K17Sh8vRDiXRqmRJA

Rules for drawing field lines:

 Field lines must begin on positive
charges or at infinity and must
terminate on negative charges or at
infinity.
 The number of lines drawn leaving a
positive charge or approaching a
negative charge is proportional to the
magnitude of the charge.
 No two field lines from the same field
Copyright © https://images.app.goo.gl/KfRqk9gtXFDWoFgZ6 can cross each other.

Examples of electric field lines between two equal but opposite charges and
two equal of the same charges:

Notice that lines leave positive (+) charges and enter negative (-) charges. Also,
E is strongest where field lines are most dense.
Sample Problem:
A charge of 1.5 C present in an
electric field produces a force of 0.06 N.
What is the intensity of the electric field?

Given:
q = 1.5 C Fe = 0.06 N
E =?

Just as electric forces can be superposed, electric fields can as well. The
resultant field Enet in the vicinity of several point charges is equal to the vector sum of
the fields due to each charge taken individually.

The magnitude of electric field on each vector:

Activity 2 – Coulomb’s Law and Net Electric Field

Solve the following word problems. Show complete solutions to your answers.
 1. Find the electrostatic force between charges of +2.0 C and +5.0 C separated
by a distance of 75 m in a vacuum.
2. Two charges of +8.0 mC and -6.0 mC attract each other with a force of 3.0 x
103 N in a vacuum. What is the distance between the charges?
3. A charge of 12 C when placed in electric field experiences a force of 648 N.
What is the magnitude of the electric field strength?
4. What happens to the force between two charged metal spheres in a vacuum if
the charge on each is doubled and the distance between them is multiplied by
three?

WRAP-UP

Complete the exit slip about

what you have learned about
electric forces and electric fields :

VALUING/APPLICATION

ELECTRIC FIELDS AND

ELECTRIC FORCES IN DAILY
LIFE:
Describe how electric forces
and electric fields interact in each
photo.
Name other phenomena that show
the presence of electric fields and
electric forces.

Reference:
https://images.app.goo.gl/NkHmvGhhvxVLZafx7

POSTTEST
 Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter in your
notebook.
1. In Coulomb’s law, increasing the distance between particles by a factor of
2 keeping all other factors the same, electric force will:
A. cause the force to decrease by a factor of 4
B. cause the force to decrease by a factor of 2
C. cause the force to increase by a factor of 4
D. cause the force to increase by a factor of 2
2. Decreasing the charge on both particles by a factor of 2 while leaving all
other factors the same will:
A. cause the force to decrease by a factor of 4
B. cause the force to decrease by a factor of 2
C. cause the force to increase by a factor of 4
D. cause the force to increase by a factor of 2
3. By how much does the electric force between two charges change when the distance
between them is doubled?
A. 4
B. 2
C. 1/2
D. 1/4
4. A positive charge of 3.0 x 10 -7 C is located in a field of 27 N/C directed
toward the south. What is the force acting on the charge?
A. 4.1 x 10 -6 N B. 6.1 x 10 -6 N
C. 8.1 x 10 -6 N
D. 10.1 x 10 -6 N
5. A positive test charge of 5.0 x 10 -6 C is in an electric field that exerts a
force of 2.0 x 10 -4 N on it. What is the magnitude of the electric field at the
location of the test charge?
A. 2.0 x 10 1 N/C B. 4.0 x 10 1 N/C C. 6.0 x 10 1 N/C
D. 8.0 x 10 1 N/C
 KEY TO CORRECTION

R E F E R E N CE S
Physics a First Course Teacher Resource CD-Rom, 2005. CPO Science.

Tony Wayne. Physics Students Workbook. Creative Commons

AttributionNoncommercial 3.0 United States License.

Faughn, J. S.; Serway, R. A. Holts Physics, Teacher’s Edition Textbook, 2006. Pages
160-163.

Tom Strong. Honors Physics Review Notes. 2009. Mt. Lebanon High School

Tony Wayne. Physics Students Workbook. Creative Commons

AttributionNoncommercial 3.0 United States License.

Walker, James S., Physics, Fourth Edition. 2010. Lecture Outline, Chapter 7.
Pearson Education, Inc.