All Flashcards
What happens when a positive charge is placed in an electric field?
The charge accelerates in the direction of the electric field.
What happens when a negative charge is placed in an electric field?
The charge accelerates against the direction of the electric field.
What happens when a conductor is placed in an external electric field?
Charges redistribute on the surface of the conductor, creating an induced electric field that cancels the external field inside the conductor.
What is the effect of a stronger electric field on a test charge?
A stronger electric field exerts a greater force on the test charge.
What happens to the electric field strength as you move further away from a point charge?
The electric field strength decreases proportionally to the square of the distance from the charge ().
How do you find the net electric field due to multiple charges?
Use the principle of superposition: calculate the electric field due to each charge individually as vectors, then add the vectors to find the resultant electric field.
Describe the head-to-tail method of adding electric field vectors.
Place the tail of one vector at the head of the other. The resultant vector is drawn from the tail of the first vector to the head of the last vector.
Describe the parallelogram method of adding electric field vectors.
Place the vectors at the same starting point, complete the parallelogram, and draw the resultant vector as the diagonal.
How do you find the net electric field from multiple charges?
Use vector addition. Calculate the electric field due to each charge individually, then add the electric field vectors using head-to-tail or parallelogram method.
How do you determine the direction of acceleration of a positive charge in an electric field?
A positive charge accelerates in the direction of the electric field.
How do you determine the direction of acceleration of a negative charge in an electric field?
A negative charge accelerates against the direction of the electric field.
How do you calculate electric field strength from force?
Use the formula: E = F_e/q, where E is electric field strength, F_e is electrostatic force, and q is the test charge.
How do you calculate electric field strength from a source charge?
Use the formula: E = kQ/r^2, where k is Coulomb's constant, Q is the source charge, and r is the distance from the source charge.