PHY321-Electromagnetism &
Modern Physics
BY
Dr. JSP Mlatho
Physics Department, Chancellor College
Box 280, Zomba
Lecture 3.1.2: Electric Charge &
Coulomb’s Law
EXERCISE:
Draw electric field vectors
due to the point charge
shown, at A, B and C
B .
C .
+ .A
Now draw field lines.
Electric Field
• We say that when a charged object is
put at a point in space,
• The charged object sets up an
Electric Field throughout the space
surrounding the charged object
• It is this field that then exerts a force on
another charged object
Electric Field
• Like the electric force,
• the electric field is also a vector
• If there is an electric force acting on an
object having a charge qo, then the
electric field at that point is given by
F
E (with the sign of q0 included)
q0
Electric Field
The force on a positively
charged object is in the same
direction as the electric field at
that point,
While the force on a negative
test charge is in the opposite
direction as the electric field
at the point
Electric Field
A positive charge sets up
an electric field pointing
away from the charge
A negative charge sets up an
electric field pointing
towards the charge
Electric Field
Earlier we saw that the q
F j q j k 2 rˆij
i
force on a charged object
is given by
r
i j ij
The term in parentheses remains the same if we
change the charge on the object at the point in
question
The quantity in the parentheses can be thought of as the
electric field at the point where the test object is placed
The electric field of a point charge can then be
shown to be given by
q
E k 2 rˆ
r
Electric Field
• As with the electric force, if there are
several charged objects, the net electric
field at a given point is given by the vector
sum of the individual electric fields
E Ei
i
Electric Field
If we have a continuous charge distribution
the summation becomes an integral
dq
E k 2 rˆ
r
Hints
• 1) Look for and exploit symmetries in the
problem.
• 2) Choose variables for integration
carefully.
• 3) Check limiting conditions for
appropriate result
Electric Field
Ring of Charge
Electric Field
Line of Charge
Example 3
Two equal, but opposite charges are placed on the x axis. The
positive charge is placed at x = -5 m and the negative charge is
placed at x = +5m as shown in the figure above.
1) What is the direction of the electric field at point A?
a) up b) down c) left d) right e) zero
2) What is the direction of the electric field at point B?
a) up b) down c) left d) right e) zero
Example 4
Two charges, Q1 and Q2, fixed along the x-axis as y
shown produce an electric field, E, at a point
(x,y) = (0,d) which is directed along the negative
y-axis. E
d
Which of the following is true?
(a) Both charges Q1 and Q2 are positive Q1 Q2 x
(b) Both charges Q1 and Q2 are negative
(c) The charges Q1 and Q2 have opposite signs
E
E
(a) (b) (c) E
Q1 Q2 Q1 Q2 Q1 Q2
Electric Field Lines
• Possible to map out the electric field in a
region of space
• An imaginary line that at any given
point has its tangent being in the direction
of the electric field at that point
• The spacing, density, of lines is related to
the magnitude of the electric field at that
point
Electric Field Lines
• At any given point, there can be only one
field line
• The electric field has a unique direction at
any given point
• Electric Field Lines
• Begin on Positive Charges
• End on Negative Charges
Electric Field Lines
Electric Dipole
• An electric dipole is a pair of point charges
having equal magnitude but opposite sign that
are separated by a distance d.
• Two questions concerning dipoles:
• 1) What are the forces and torques acting
on a dipole when placed in an external electric
field?
• 2) What does the electric field of a dipole
look like?
Force on a Dipole
Given a uniform external field
Then since the charges are of
equal magnitude, the force on
each charge has the same
value
However the forces are in opposite directions!
Therefore the net force on the dipole is
Fnet = 0
Torque on a Dipole
• The individual forces acting on the dipole
may not necessarily be acting along the
same line.
• If this is the case, then there will be a
torque acting on the dipole, causing the
dipole to rotate.
Torque on a Dipole
The torque is then given by = qE dsin
q d E
d is a vector pointing from the negative charge to the
positive charge
Potential Energy of a Dipole
• Given a dipole in an external field:
• Dipole will rotate due to torque
• Electric field will do work
• The work done is the negative of the
change in potential energy of the dipole
• The potential energy can be shown to be
U q d E
Electric Field of a Dipole
In this chapter you’ll learn
• To represent electric fields using
field-line diagrams
• To explain Gauss’s law and how it
relates to Coulomb’s law
• To calculate the electric fields for
symmetric charge distributions
using Gauss’s law (EASY!)
• To describe the behavior of
charge on conductors in
electrostatic equilibrium
21.1 Electric Field
Lines
NB For electric
field at P draw tail
of vector at point
P
We can draw a vector at each point around a charged object -
• direction of E is tangent to field line (in same direction as F)
• E is larger where field lines are closer together
• electric field lines extend away from positive charge (where
they originate) and towards negative charge (where they terminate)
Electric field lines provide a convenient and insightful way
to represent electric fields.
– A field line is a curve whose direction at each point is the
direction of the electric field at that point.
– The spacing of field lines describes the magnitude of the
field.
• Where lines are closer, the field is stronger.
Vector and field-line
diagrams of a point-
charge field
The field lines for The field lines for two charges
two equal equal in magnitude but
positive charges opposite in sign – an electric
dipole
NB the electric field vector at a point is tangent to the
field line through the point
Field lines for simple charge distributions
There are field lines everywhere, so every charge
distribution has infinitely many field lines.
• In drawing field-line
diagrams, we
associate a certain
finite number of field
lines with a charge of
a given magnitude.
• In the diagrams
shown, 8 lines are
associated with a
charge of magnitude
q.
• Note that field lines of
static charge
distributions always
begin and end on
charges, or extend to
infinity.
5.
Summary of electric field 3.
lines
Two conducting
spheres: what is the
relative sign and
magnitude of the
charges on the two
spheres?
Large sphere: 11 field lines leaving
and 3 entering, net = 8 leaving Charge on small sphere
Small sphere: 8 leaving creates an intense electric
field at nearby surface of large
Spheres have equal positive charge sphere, where negative charge
accumulates (3 entering field
lines).
Gauss’s Law
A new look at Coulomb’s Law
Flux
Flux of an Electric Field
Gauss’ Law
Gauss’ Law and Coulomb’s Law
A new look at Coulomb’s Law
A new formulation of Coulomb’s Law was
derived by Gauss (1777-1855).
It can be used to take advantage of
symmetry.
For electrostatics it is equivalent to
Coulomb’s Law. We choose which to use
depending on the problem at hand.
Two central features are Gauss’ Law relates the electric
(1)a hypothetical closed surface – a Gaussian fields at points on a (closed)
surface – usually one that mimics the Gaussian surface and the net
symmetry of the problem, and charge enclosed by that
surface
(2) flux of a vector field through a surface
A surface or arbitrary shape enclosing an
electric dipole.
As long as the surface encloses both charges,
the number of lines penetrating the surface
from inside is exactly equal to the number of
lines penetrating the surface from the outside,
no matter where the surface is drawn
A surface of arbitrary shape enclosing charges
+2q and -q. Either the field lines that end on –
q do not pass through the surface or they
penetrate it from the inside the same number
of times as from the outside.
The net number that exit is the same as that
for a single charge of +q, the net charge
enclosed by the surface.
The net number of lines out of any surface
enclosing the charges is proportional to the
net charge enclosed by the surface.
Gauss’ Law (qualitative)
That’s it!
Gauss’ Law in words
and pictures
21.2 Electric flux
• Electric flux quantifies the notion
“number of field lines crossing a
surface.”
– The electric flux through a flat
surface in a uniform electric field
depends on the field strength E, the
surface area A, and the angle
between the field and the normal to
the surface.
– Mathematically, the flux
is given by
EA cos E A.
• Here A is a vector whose
magnitude is the surface area A
and whose orientation is normal to
the surface.
Electric flux with curved surfaces and
nonuniform fields
• When the surface is curved or the field is nonuniform, we calculate
the flux by dividing the surface into small patches dA, so small that
each patch is essentially flat and the field is essentially uniform over
each.
– We then sum
the fluxes
d E dA over each patch.
– In the limit of infinitely many
infinitesimally small patches,
the sum becomes a
surface integral:
E dA
Flux of an electric field
Here we have an arbitrary (asymmetric)
Gaussian surface immersed in a non-
uniform electric field.
The surface has been divided up into small
squares each of area A, small enough to
be considered flat.
We represent each element of area with a
vector area A and magnitude A.
Each vector A is perpendicular to the
Gaussian surface and directed outwards
Electric field E may be assumed to be
constant over any given square
Vectors A and E for each square make
an angle with each other
Now we could estimate that the flux of
the electric field for this Gaussian
surface is
= E A
CHECKPOINT: Gaussian cube of
face area A is immersed in a
uniform electric field E that has
positive direction along z axis.
In terms of E and A, what is the
flux through …..
..the front face (in the xy
plane)? ..the rear
A. +EA face? ..the top face?
B. 0 A. +EA ..the whole Answers:
A. +EA
C. -EA B. 0 cube? (a) +EA
B. 0
C. -EA C. -EA A. +EA (b) –EA
B. 0 (c) 0
C. -EA (d) 0
The flux through side B of the cube in the figure is the same
as the flux through side C. What is a correct expression for
the flux through each of these sides?
A. s E3
B. s2 E
C. s3E cos45
D. s2 E cos45
End of Lecture 5
