All Flashcards
What is the difference between attractive and repulsive electric forces?
Attractive: Occurs between opposite charges. Repulsive: Occurs between like charges.
Compare the effect of distance on electric force and gravitational force.
Both forces are inversely proportional to the square of the distance between objects.
Define electric charge.
A fundamental property of matter that can be positive (protons) or negative (electrons).
Define elementary charge (e).
The smallest unit of charge, equal to the magnitude of the charge of a single electron or proton, approximately 1.602 x 10^-19 C.
Define Coulomb (C).
The SI unit of electric charge.
Define "point charge".
A charged particle where the charge is concentrated at a single point.
Define Coulomb's constant (k).
The proportionality constant in Coulomb's Law, approximately 8.99 x 10^9 Nm²/C².
Define electric force.
The force exerted by charged objects on each other; attractive for opposite charges and repulsive for like charges.
Define dipole.
Separation of charge within an object, creating partial positive and negative ends, even if the overall charge is neutral.
Outline the steps to calculate the net electric force on a charge due to multiple charges using the Superposition Principle.
- Calculate the individual electric force vectors between the charge of interest and each of the other charges using Coulomb's Law. 2. Resolve each force vector into x and y components. 3. Calculate the net force in the x-direction (Fx_net) and y-direction (Fy_net) by summing the respective components. 4. Find the magnitude of the net force using the Pythagorean theorem: . 5. Use trigonometry to find the direction of the net force.
What are the steps to determine how an object becomes negatively charged?
The object gains extra electrons.
What are the steps to determine how an object becomes positively charged?
The object loses electrons, resulting in more protons than electrons.