Electrostatics Flashcards
Static Electricity?
An imbalance of charge.
Principle of Conservation of Charge?
The net charge of an isolated system remains constant during any physical process. To elaborate, the number of electrons gained by one object is equal to the number of electrons lost by the other object.
Quantization?
Charge is always in whole number multiples of 1.6 x 10-19 C.
Polarization?
Redistribution of charge. Involves the use of charged objects to cause electron movement or rearrangement of electrons.
Conductors?
Materials that contain electrons that are loosely held by their atoms. Often known as a sea of delocalized electrons that can move freely throughout the material.
Insulators?
Materials that hold their electrons tightly, so the electrons are not free to flow.
Coulomb’s Law?
Two point charges in free space exert forces on each other. That force of attraction or repulsion is directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their canters.
Magnitude of the electric field at a point?
The force per unit positive charge, E = F/q where E and F are vectors.
Electric Field?
A region of space in which a charge experiences a force. The direction of the field at a point is the direction that a positive test charge would move if placed at that point.
Electric Field Line?
A line showing the direction a positively charged object will move when placed in the electric field.
Point Charge?
Any charge with an infinitely small mass and physical size. An imaginary concept because even an electron has mass.
Test Charge?
A +1 C point charge.
Superposition Principle?
The net electric field produced at any point in a system of charges is equal to the vector sum of all individual fields produced by each charge at this point.
