GENERAL PHYSICS 2

TEACHER: ELENA B. MOHAMMAD

Lesson 1
Electric Charge and Matter

I. Introduction

In General Physics 1, your learned about the various fundamental forces found in our
environment. Gravity, for example, is an important concept that needs to be understood by students
as it has great influence all sort of motion of matter both living and non-living. For this lesson, we will
learn about electromagnetic force, one of the nature’s fundamental forces, as it possess both
electric and magnetic force. To understand this, we must know the interaction of particles with
electric charges. It can basically be represented by mass and can be accelerated by the presence
of electric forces. This phenomenon can be observed when we see lightning during a storm, an
electric shock when touching metallic objects, and when light objects such as dust clings on a plastic
surface.

II. Objectives

At the end of this activity, you should be able to:

1. Explain the three processes of charging;
2. Identify the material as conductors or insulators;
3. Calculate electric force using Coulomb’s law; and
4. Compare electric force with gravitational force.

III. Concept/s Explanation

A. Defining Electric Charge

Electric charge is the basic physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when
kept in an electric or magnetic field. An electric charge is associated with an electric field and the moving
electric charge generates a magnetic field. Combination of electric and magnetic fields is known as the
electromagnetic field. Interaction of the charges generates an electromagnetic force which is the
foundation of Physics.

The definition of electric charge is given as follows:

Electric Charge Definition

“Electric Charge is the property of subatomic particles that causes it to experience a force when
placed in an electric and magnetic field.”

Is Electric Charge a Vector Quantity?

Electric charge is a scalar quantity. Apart from having a magnitude and direction, a quantity to be
termed a vector should also obey the laws of vector addition, such as triangle law of vector addition and
parallelogram law of vector addition; only then the quantity is said to be a vector quantity. When two currents
meet at a junction in the case of an electric current, the resultant current of these will be an algebraic sum
and not the vector sum. Therefore, an electric current is a scalar quantity, although it possesses magnitude
and direction.

Types of electric charge

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 The two types of electric charges are: Positive and Negative, commonly carried by charge carriers
protons and electrons. Examples of the types of charges are subatomic particles or the particles of matter:
 protons are positively charged
 electrons are negatively charged
 neutrons have zero charge

Two kinds of electric charges are there

 positive(+) charge
 negative(-) charge

a. Negative Charge
When an object has a negative charge it means that it has more electrons than protons.

b. Positive Charge
When an object has a positive charge it means that it has more protons than electrons.
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 transfer of electrons from one body to another proves the law of conservation of charges. These
charges are neither created nor destroyed. According to the principle of conservation of charges, the sum
of electric charges of a body within a closed system is always constant. In understanding electrostatic
interactions, we have to keep in mind the following conventions:

B. Measuring Electric charge

Coulomb is the unit of electric charge.

“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.

C. Methods of Charging
The process of supplying the electric charge to an object or losing the electric charge from an
object is called charging.

An uncharged object can be charged in three different ways as follows:

 Charging by friction ( triboelectric charging)
 Charging by conduction
 Charging by induction

1. Charging by Friction

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 When two objects are rubbed against each
other, charge transfer takes place. One of the objects
loses electrons while the other object gains electrons. The
object that loses electrons becomes positively charged
and the object that gains electrons becomes negatively
charged. Both the objects get charged due to friction
and this method of charging is commonly known as
electrification by friction.

2. Charging by Conduction

The method of charging an

uncharged object by bringing it close to a
charged object is known as charging by
conduction. The charged conductor has
an unequal number of protons and
electrons, hence when an uncharged
conductor is brought near it, it discharges
electrons to stabilise itself.

3. Charging by Induction

The process of charging an

uncharged conductor by bringing it
near a charged conductor without
any physical contact is known as
charging by induction.

D. Conductors and Insulators

The behavior of an object that has been charged is dependent upon whether the object is
made of a conductive or a nonconductive material. Conductors are materials that permit electrons to
flow freely from particle to particle. An object made of a conducting material will permit charge to be
transferred across the entire surface of the object. If charge is transferred to the object at a given
location, that charge is quickly distributed across the entire surface of the object. The distribution of
charge is the result of electron movement. Since conductors allow for electrons to be transported from
particle to particle, a charged object will always distribute its charge until the overall repulsive forces
between excess electrons is minimized. If a charged conductor is touched to another object, the
conductor can even transfer its charge to that object. The transfer of charge between objects occurs
more readily if the second object is made of a conducting material. Conductors allow for charge transfer
through the free movement of electrons.

In contrast to
conductors, insulators are materials that
impede the free flow of electrons from atom
to atom and molecule to molecule. If
charge is transferred to an insulator at a
given location, the excess charge will
remain at the initial location of charging. The
particles of the insulator do not permit the
free flow of electrons; subsequently charge
is seldom distributed evenly across the surface of an insulator.

While insulators are not useful for transferring charge, they do serve a critical role in electrostatic
experiments and demonstrations. Conductive objects are often mounted upon insulating objects. This
arrangement of a conductor on top of an insulator prevents charge from being transferred from the
conductive object to its surroundings. This arrangement also allows for a student (or teacher) to manipulate
a conducting object without touching it. The insulator serves as a handle for moving the conductor around
on top of a lab table. If charging experiments are performed with aluminum pop cans, then the cans should
be mounted on top of Styrofoam cups. The cups serve as insulators, preventing the pop cans from discharging
their charge. The cups also serve as handles when it becomes necessary to move the cans around on the
table.

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Examples of Conductors and Insulators

Examples of conductors include metals, aqueous solutions of salts (i.e., ionic compounds dissolved in
water), graphite, and the human body. Examples of insulators include plastics, Styrofoam, paper, rubber,
glass and dry air. The division of materials into the categories of conductors and insulators is a somewhat
artificial division. It is more appropriate to think of materials as being placed somewhere along a continuum.
Those materials that are super conductive (known as superconductors) would be placed at on end and the
least conductive materials (best insulators) would be placed at the other end. Metals would be placed near
the most conductive end and glass would be placed on the opposite end of the continuum. The conductivity
of a metal might be as much as a million trillion times greater than that of glass.

Along the continuum of conductors

and insulators, one might find the human
body somewhere towards the
conducting side of the middle. When the
body acquires a static charge it has a
tendency to distribute that charge
throughout the surface of the body.
Given the size of the human body, relative to the size of typical objects used in electrostatic experiments,
it would require an abnormally large quantity of excess charge before its effect is noticeable. The effects
of excess charge on the body are often demonstrated using a Van de Graaff generator. When a student
places their hand upon the static ball, excess charge from the ball is shared with the human body. Being
a conductor, the excess charge could flow to the human body and spread throughout the surface of
the body, even onto strands of hair. As the individual strands of hair become charged, they begin to
repel each other. Looking to distance themselves from their like-charged neighbors, the strands of hair
begin to rise upward and outward - a truly hair-raising experience.

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E. Electric Force

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III. Work/Practice Exercise

Copy then answer the following on your Physics 2 Notebook. Submit this during our
face-to-face class.

A. Questions:
a. What will be your charge if you scrape electrons from your feet while scuffing
across the rug?
b. How do particles with the same charge react?
c. What are the three ways by which static charge is produced?
B. Solve for the following:
1. A point charge of +3.00 × 10−6 C is 12.0 cm distant from a second point
charge of −1.50 × 10−6 C. Calculate the magnitude of the force on each
charge.
2. What is the magnitude of the electric force between two protons five meters
apart?
3. What is the magnitude and direction of the force on a charge of +4 x 10 -9 C
that is 5 cm from a charge of +5 x 10-8 C?

IV. Reference
https://byjus.com/physics/electric-charge/
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/estatics/Lesson-1/Conductors-and-Insulators

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