Topic 2: Electrostatics Flashcards
Explain Coulomb’s law
It describes the force between charged particles by stating that the strength of the force is proportional to the strength of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance.
A positive force indicates repulsion, and a negative force indicates attraction
State the formula for Coulomb’s Law
Define electric fields
Electric fields are a region of space around a charged object in which another charged object will experience a force.
Electric fields are represented with lines where the direction of the lines indicates the direction of the force that a positive charge would experience.
Define electric field strength
Electric field strength is the amount of force exerted per unit of charge at a point and can be expressed as E=F/q at a certain point
Determine the formula for electric field strength
By combining F= qE with coulomb’s law, the electric field strength at a distance from an object can be determined using the formula:
Define electrical potential energy
Electrical potential energy is the energy that is stored in an electric field when a charged particle is placed somewhere in that field. This particle has potential because if it is moved into the field, it would do work on the field whereas if it is repelled by the field the field would perform work on the object transferring this potential energy into kinetic energy
Distinguish between electrical potential and electrical potential energy
Electrical potential refers to the energy required to move a positively charged particle from infinity to some point in the field whereas electrical potential energy refers to the energy stored in the field because of the charged particle in that field.
Identify the symbol for electric field strength
E
Identify the formula for calculating the force on a charged particle due to an electric field
Identify the factors influencing the force between 2 charged particles
Directly proportional: charge on each of the particles
Inversely proportional: Square of distance between them