All Flashcards
What is the effect of bringing a positively charged object near a neutral conductor?
Polarization of charge within the conductor, with negative charges attracted to the positive object and positive charges repelled.
What is the effect of grounding a charged conductor?
If negatively charged, electrons flow from the conductor to the ground. If positively charged, electrons flow from the ground to the conductor, neutralizing the charge.
What is the effect of increasing the distance between two charges?
The electrostatic force between them decreases according to the inverse square law.
What is the effect of increasing the magnitude of either charge in Coulomb's Law?
The electrostatic force between the charges increases proportionally.
Define electric charge.
A fundamental property of matter that can be either positive or negative.
What is a Coulomb (C)?
The standard unit of electric charge.
Define elementary charge (e).
The magnitude of the charge of a single proton or electron, approximately 1.6 x 10^-19 C.
What are conductors?
Materials that allow electric charge to move freely through them.
What are insulators?
Materials that restrict the movement of electric charge.
Define Coulomb's Law.
A law stating that the electrostatic force between two point charges is directly proportional to the product of the magnitudes of each charge and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
What are the differences between conductors and insulators?
Conductors: Allow charge to move freely, have mobile electrons. | Insulators: Restrict charge movement, electrons are tightly bound.
Compare charging by contact and charging by induction.
Contact: Requires physical touch, results in the same type of charge. | Induction: No physical touch, can result in the opposite type of charge (if grounded).