Chapter 5 - Electrostatics and Magnetism Flashcards
Electrostatics
Study of stationary charges and the forces that are created by and which act upon these charges
Insulator
Material that resists the movement of charge because electrons are tightly associated with their nuclei
- Nonmetals
Conductor
Material that allows the free movement of electrical charge
- Metals, ionic solutions
Coulomb’s Law
Quantifies the magnitude of the electrostatic force between 2 charges
Electric Field
A region generated by an electric charge or multiple charges that can exert a force on another charge brought into the field
Field Lines
Imaginary lines that represent how a positive test charge would move in the presence of the source charge
Electric Potential Energy
Form of potential energy that is dependent on the relative position of one charge with respect to another charge or to a collection of charges
Electric Potential
Ratio of the magnitude of a charge’s electric potential energy to the magnitude of the charge itself
- Scalar quantity
Equipotential Lines
Line on which the potential at every point is the same
Electric Dipoles
Results from 2 equal and opposite charges being separated a small distance from each other
Magnetic Field
Field created by a moving charge
Diamagnetic materials
Material made of atoms with no unpaired electrons that have no net magnetic field
- Wood, plastics, water, glass, skin
Paramagnetic materials
Material made of atoms with unpaired electrons that will become weakly magnetized in the presence of an external magnetic field
- Aluminum, copper, gold
Ferromagnetic materials
Material made of atoms with unpaired electrons that become strongly magnetized when exposed to external magnetic field
- Iron, nickel, cobalt
Lorentz Force
Sum of the electrostatic and magnetic forces acting on a charge
