Electric Charge and Current Flow

Question 1

What are atoms called when they are charged by losing or adding electrons?

Answer 1

Atoms are ionized or ions when charged this way. A negative charged atom is called an anion and a positive charged atom is called a cation.

Question 3

What are the fundamental laws of charged bodies?

Answer 3

1. Like charges repel and unlike charges attract.
2. Coulomb’s law of electrostatic charges states the force between two charges at rest is directly proportional to the product of the magnitudes of the charges and is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Question 4

Definite Polarity

Answer 4

Polarity is the charge at one point with respect to another point.

Question 5

What is an Electrostatic Field?

Answer 5

The path of invisible lines of force which a electrically charged particle travels when moving from one charged object to the other

Question 6

How do bodies become charged?

Answer 6

Friction/Contact: When two dissimilar substances are rubbed together the electrons are transferred from one to the other.

Conduction: When an uncharged substance comes into contact with an uncharged body, some of the charged is transferred to the unchanged and both possess the same charge.

Induction: 1) Negative charge is brought near neutral charge causing its electrons to repel to the other end. 2) Electrons at the other end are grounded by a wire. 3) When wire is removed, the neutral becomes positives due to loss of electrons.