Electrostatics and Magnetism Flashcards
electrostatics
study of stationary changes and the forces that are created by and which act upon these charges
ground
a means of returning the charge to earth
fundamental unit of charge
e=1.60E-19 coulomb
insulator
will not easily distribute a charge over its surface and will not transfer that charge to another neutral object very well
conductor
will distribute charge evenly on its surface; able to transfer and transport charge
Coulomb’s law
quantifies the magnitude of the electrostatic force between two charges
F=kq1q2/r^2
k=coulomb’s constant
q1 and q2=magnitude of the two charges
r=distance between the two charges
electric fields
exert forces on other charges that move into the space of the field
test charge
charge placed in electric field
source charge
creates electric field
magnitude of electric field
E=f/q
E=kQ/r^2
f=magnitude of force felt by test charge
q=test charge
Q=source charge magnitude
r=distance between charges
field lines
imaginary lines that represent how a positive test charge would move in the presence of a source charge
electrical potential energy
U=kQq/r
electric potential
ratio of the magnitude of a charge’s electric potential energy to the magnitude of the charge itself
V=U/q
V=electric potential
equipotential line
line on which the potential at every point is the same
electric dipole
two equal and opposite forces being separated by a small distance
