Sky Light

During a thunderstorm,
Molly and Paresh were
watching lightning bolts
light up the sky. Paresh
was impressed by the
patterns of the lightning.
Molly asked Paresh,
“Why do you suppose
lightning jumps between
a cloud and Earth?”
What explanation might
Paresh give?

➥ Look at the text

on page 470 for
the answer.
CHAPTER

20
Static
Electricity

ature provides few more dazzling displays than lightning. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
N Is there a way to experience lightning close-up, perhaps
safely at home or in the school lab? Is lightning related to
some everyday occurrences? If you have ever scuffed your feet on
• You will classify electrical
charge and analyze how
charge interacts with matter.
the carpet so that you could create a small spark between your • You will infer the rules of
fingers and a friend’s nose, then you may be able to answer these how charge pushes and
questions. pulls on the world.
The connection between rubbing surfaces together and sparks
has been known for a long time. However, researchers had not
made the connection between sparks and lightning. After all, WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
sparks were seldom more than 1 or 2 centimeters long. Lightning, • In this age of microproces-
on the other hand, could be several kilometers long. How could
sors and sensitive circuitry, a
knowledge of static electri-
they be related?
cal charge may save your
It took Benjamin Franklin’s ingenuity to see how a link
electronic components
between lightning and sparks could be established. He reasoned
from damage.
that if lightning was electricity, it had to be a great deal of elec-
tricity. In 1752, Franklin performed his famous kite experiment.
He flew the kite with a key attached to the string while a thun-
derstorm approached. During the flight, the loose threads of the
kite string began to stand up and avoid one another. When
Franklin brought his knuckle close to the key he experienced a
spark. This event was proof that “electrical fire” could be obtained
from a cloud. Franklin’s experiment set off a flurry of research in
the field of electricity. Over the next several chapters, you will
investigate electric phenomena and develop models to explain
what you observe.
PHYSICS
To find out more about static
electricity, visit the Glencoe Science
Web site at science.glencoe.com

461
 20.1 Electrical Charge
Y ou may have had the experience of rubbing your shoes
on the carpet hard enough to create a lightning-like
spark when you touched someone. Franklin’s kite experiment
showed that lightning is similar to electricity caused by friction. Electrical
OBJ ECTIVES effects produced this way are called static electricity. In this chapter, you
• Recognize that objects will investigate electrostatics, the study of electrical charges that can be
that are charged exert collected and held in one place. Current electricity, produced by batteries
forces, both attractive and and generators, will be explored in later chapters.
repulsive.
• Demonstrate that charging Charged Objects
is the separation, not the
Have you ever noticed the way your hair is attracted to the comb
creation, of electrical
charges. when you comb your hair on a dry day? Perhaps you also have found
that socks sometimes stick together when you take them out of the
• Describe the differences clothes dryer. If so, you will recognize the attraction of the bits of paper
between conductors and
to a comb shown in Figure 20–1. If the weather is dry, try this yourself
insulators.
now. Rub a plastic comb or ballpoint pen on your clothing. (Wool
clothing is best.) Then, hold the pen or comb close to a pile of paper
bits. Notice the way the paper pieces jump up toward the pen or comb.
There must be a new, relatively strong force causing this upward accel-
eration because it is larger than the downward acceleration caused by
the gravitational force of Earth.
There are other differences between this new force and gravity. Paper
is attracted to a comb only after the comb has been rubbed. If you wait
a while, the attractive property of the comb disappears. Gravity, on the
other hand, does not require rubbing and does not disappear. The
ancient Greeks noticed similar effects when they rubbed amber. The
Greek word for amber is elektron, and today this attractive property is
called “electrical.” An object that exhibits electrical interaction after
rubbing is said to be charged.

FIGURE 20–1 Running a comb

through your hair transfers elec-
trons to the comb, giving it a
negative charge. When the comb
is brought close to bits of paper,
a charge separation is induced
on the paper bits. The attractive
electrical force accelerates the
paper bits upward against the
force of gravity.

462 Static Electricity

Like charges You can explore electrical interactions with very simple
equipment such as transparent tape. Fold over about 5 mm at the end
of a strip of tape for a handle and then stick the remaining 8- to 12-cm-
long part of the strip on a dry, smooth surface such as your desktop.
Then stick a second, similar piece next to the first. Quickly pull both
strips off the desk and bring them near each other. What happens? The
strips have a new property that causes them to repel each other. They are
F.Y.I.
electrically charged. They were prepared in the same way, so they must Charged objects will even-
tually return to their neutral
have the same type of charge. Therefore, you have just demonstrated
state. The charge “leaks off”
that two objects with the same type of charge repel each other. onto the water molecules
You can learn about this charge by doing some simple experiments. in the air. On humid or
You may have found that the tape is attracted to your hand. Are both sides rainy days it is difficult to
attracted, or just one? If you wait a while, especially in humid weather, make any object hold its
you’ll find that the electrical charge disappears. You can restore it by again charge for long.
sticking the tape to the desk and pulling it off. You also can remove its
charge by gently rubbing your fingers down both sides of the tape.

Opposite charges Now, stick one strip of tape on the desk and place
the second strip on top of the first, as shown in Figure 20–2a. Use the
handle of the bottom strip of tape to pull the two off the desk together.
Rub them with your fingers until they are no longer attracted to your
hand. You’ve now removed all the electrical charge. With one hand on
the handle of one strip and the other on the handle of the second strip,
quickly pull the two strips apart. You’ll find that they’re now both
charged. They once again are attracted to your hands. But, do they still
repel each other? No, they now attract each other. They are charged, but
they are no longer charged alike. They have opposite charges and attract
each other.
Is tape the only object that you can charge? Once again, stick one
strip of tape to the desk and the second strip on top. Label the bottom
strip B and the top strip T. Pull the pair off together. Discharge them,
then pull them apart. Stick the handle end of each strip to the edge of a
table, the bottom of a lamp shade, or some similar object. The two
should hang down a short distance apart, as shown in Figure 20–2b.
Finally, rub the comb or pen on your clothing and bring it near first one
strip of tape and then the other. You will find that one strip will be
attracted to the comb, the other repelled from it. You can now explore
the interactions of charged objects with the strips of tape.

FIGURE 20–2 Strips of tape

can be given opposite charges
(a), then used to demonstrate
the interactions of like and
a b opposite charges (b).

20.1 Electrical Charge 463

Color Conventions Experimenting with charge Try to charge other objects such as
plates, glasses, and plastic bags. Rub them with different materials
• Positive charges are red. such as silk, wool, and plastic wrap. If the air is dry, scuff your shoes
• Negative
are blue.
charges on the carpet and bring your finger near the strips of tape. You should
find that most charged objects attract one strip and repel the other. To
test silk or wool, slip a plastic bag over your hand before holding the
cloth. After rubbing, take your hand out of the bag and bring both the
bag and cloth near the strips of tape.
You will never find an object that repels both strips of tape, although
you might find some that attract both. Bring your finger near first one
strip, then the other. You will find that it attracts both. We will explore
this effect later in this chapter.

Types of charge From your experiments, you can make a list of

objects labeled B for bottom, which have the same charge as the tape
HELP WANTED stuck on the desk. Another list can be made of objects labeled T, which
have the same charge as the tape stuck on the top of the other tape.
OFFICE EQUIPMENT
There are only two lists; thus, there are only two types of charge. You
TECHNICIAN could give these types the names “yellow” and “green.” Benjamin
Must be skilled in instal-
Franklin called them positive and negative charges. Using Franklin’s
ling, servicing, and oper-
convention, when hard rubber and plastic are rubbed, they become
ating computers and
other office equipment. negatively charged. When materials such as glass and wool are rubbed,
Prefer graduate of two- they become positively charged.
year course at a technical Just as you showed that an uncharged pair of strips of tape became
institute or community oppositely charged, you were probably able to show that if you rubbed
college. High school plastic with wool, the plastic became charged negatively, the wool pos-
courses should include itively. The two kinds of charges were not created alone, but in pairs.
algebra and other math, These experiments suggest that matter normally contains both charges,
computer science, lan- positive and negative. Friction in some way separates the two. To explore
guage arts, and physics this further, you must consider the microscopic picture of matter.
or chemistry. Growing
opportunity for those A Microscopic View of Charge
with computer skills. May Electrical charges exist within atoms. In 1890, J.J. Thomson discov-
work in a manufacturing
ered that all materials contain light, negatively charged particles he
plant, a corporation, or
called electrons. Between 1909 and 1911, Ernest Rutherford, a New
a repair shop. For more
information, join a com- Zealander, discovered that atoms have a massive, positively charged
puter user group or con- nucleus. If the positive charge of the nucleus exactly balances the nega-
tact: tive charge of the surrounding electrons, then the atom is neutral.
Institute of Electrical and With the addition of energy, the outer electrons can be removed from
Electronics Engineers atoms. An atom missing electrons has an overall positive charge, and
445 Hoes Lane consequently any matter made of these electron-deficient atoms is pos-
Piscataway, NJ itively charged. The freed electrons can remain unattached or become
08855-0459 attached to other atoms, resulting in negatively charged particles. From
a microscopic viewpoint, acquiring charge is a process of transferring
electrons.

464 Static Electricity

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ÀÀÀÀÀÀÀ
Hard rubber rod

– +– –

;;;;;;
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€€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀÀ
;;;;;;;
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€€€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀÀÀ
–
– – + – –+ – –
Wool

;;;;;;
@@@@@@
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ÀÀÀÀÀÀ
;;;;;;;
@@@@@@@
€€€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀÀÀ
–

;;;;;;;
@@@@@@@
€€€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀÀÀ
+ –
+ –
+
+
– +
– +

;;;;;;;
@@@@@@@
€€€€€€€
ÀÀÀÀÀÀÀ
+
+ – +
–

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+
– + +
– +
+ +
FIGURE 20–3 As the rubber rod
strokes the wool, electrons are
removed from the wool atoms
and cling to the rubber atoms.
In this way, both objects become
charged.

Separation of charge If two neutral objects are rubbed together,

each can become charged. For instance, when rubber and wool are
rubbed together, electrons from atoms on the wool are transferred to the
rubber, as shown in Figure 20–3. The extra electrons on the rubber
result in a net negative charge. The electrons missing from the wool
result in a net positive charge. The combined total charge of the two
objects remains the same. Charge is conserved, which is one way of say-
ing that individual charges are never created or destroyed. All that hap-
pened was that the positive and negative charges were separated
through a transfer of electrons.
Contact between the tires of a moving car or truck and the road can cause
the tires to become charged. Processes inside a thundercloud can cause the
cloud bottom to become negatively charged and the cloud top to become
positively charged. In both these cases, no charge is made, only separated.

Conductors and Insulators

Hold a plastic rod or comb at its midpoint and rub only one end. You
will find that only the rubbed end becomes charged. In other words, the
charges you transferred to the plastic stayed where they were put, they did
not move. Figure 20–4 shows static charges—charges that are not mov-
ing—on an insulator. The strips of tape that you charged earlier in this
chapter acted in the same way. Materials through which charges will not
move easily are called electrical insulators. Glass, dry wood, most plastics,
cloth, and dry air are all good insulators.
Suppose that you support a metal rod on an insulator so that it is FIGURE 20–4 A piece of plastic
isolated, or completely surrounded by insulators. If you then touch the 0.02 mm wide was given a net
positive charge. Areas of negative
charged comb to one end of the metal rod, you will find that the charge
charge are visible as dark
spreads very quickly over the entire rod. Materials such as metals that allow regions. Areas of positive charge
charges to move about easily are called electrical conductors. Electrons are visible as yellow regions.

20.1 Electrical Charge 465

 + carry, or conduct, electric charge through the metal. Metals are good con-
++ ++ ductors because at least one electron on each atom of the metal can be
+ +
+ + removed easily. These electrons act as if they no longer belong to any one
+ + atom, but to the metal as a whole; consequently, they move freely through-
++ ++ out the piece of metal. Figure 20–5 illustrates how charges behave when
+
placed on a conductor or an insulator. Copper and aluminum are both
excellent conductors and are used commercially to carry electricity.
a Conductor
Plasma, a highly ionized gas, and graphite, the form of carbon used in pen-
cils, also are good conductors of electrical charge.

When air becomes a conductor Air is an insulator. However, under

+ ++ certain conditions, sparks or lightning occurs, allowing charge to move
+ +
through air as if it were a conductor. The spark that jumps between your
+ finger and a doorknob after you have rubbed your feet on the carpet dis-
+
charges you. That is, you have become neutral because the excess charges
b Insulator have left you. Similarly, lightning discharges a thundercloud. In both these
FIGURE 20–5 Charges placed cases, for a brief moment, air became a conductor. Recall that conductors
on a conductor will spread over must have charges that are free to move. For a spark or lightning to occur,
the entire surface (a). Charges
free moving charged particles must be formed in the normally neutral air.
placed on an insulator will remain
where they are placed (b). In the case of lightning, excess charges in the cloud and on the ground are
great enough to remove electrons from the molecules in the air. The
electrons and positively or negatively charged atoms become free to move.
They form a conductor that is a plasma. The discharge of Earth and the
thundercloud moving through this conductor forms a luminous arc called
lightning. In the case of your finger and the doorknob, the discharge is
called a spark.

20.1 Section Review

1. How could you find out which strip When the rods were longer than 293
of tape, B or T, is positively charged? feet, the silk broke. Gray replaced the
2. Suppose you attach a long metal rod silk with stronger wires made of brass,
to a plastic handle so that the rod is but then the experiments failed. The
isolated. You touch a charged glass metal rods would no longer transmit
rod to one end of the metal rod. a charge from one end to the other.
Describe the charges on the metal rod. Why not?
3. In the 1730s, Stephan Gray tried to 4. Critical Thinking Suppose there were a
see how far metal rods could conduct third type of charge. What experiments
electrical charge. He hung metal rods could you suggest to explore its
by thin silk cords from the ceiling. properties?

466 Static Electricity

What’s the charge?
Problem
Can you see the effects of electrostatic charg-
ing? How can you increase the amount of
charge on an object without discharging it?

Materials
30 cm  30 cm block of polystyrene
Data and Observations
22-cm aluminum pie pan
wool Description of Event Observations
plastic cup
drinking straw thread
transparent tape
pith ball (or small piece of plastic foam
packing material) 9. When finished, recycle or dispose of
liquid graphite appropriate materials. Put away materials
that can be reused.
Procedure
Analyze and Conclude
1. Paint the pith ball with graphite and allow
it to dry. 1. Forming a Description As the pie pan
was brought near the charged block, could
2. Tape the inverted cup to the aluminum pie you detect a force between the neutral pie
pan. Secure the straw to the top of the cup pan and the charged foam? Describe it.
and use the thread to attach the ball as
shown in the photograph. 2. Interpreting Observations Explain what
happened to the ball in step 4 and step 5.
3. Rub the foam with wool, then remove
the wool. 3. Analyzing Results Make a drawing to
show the distribution of charges on the
4. Holding onto the plastic cup, lower the pie neutral pie pan as it is lowered toward the
pan until it is about 3 cm above the foam charged foam block.
block and then slowly lift it away.
4. Inferring Relationships What was the
5. Place the pie pan directly on the charged reason for using the ball on a thread?
foam block and lift it away. Explain the back-and-forth motion of the
6. Bring your finger near the ball until ball in step 6.
they touch. 5. Interpreting Observations Does the
7. Place the pie pan on the foam block and polystyrene block seem to run out of
touch the edge of the pie pan with your charges in step 8?
finger. Then remove the pie pan from the
foam block and touch the ball again with Apply
your finger. 1. Clear plastic wrap is sold to seal up con-
8. Repeat step 7 several times without tainers of food. Suggest a reason why it
recharging the foam block. clings to itself.

20.1 Electrical Charge 467

 20.2 Electrical Force
E lectrical forces must be strong because they can
easily produce accelerations larger than the accel-
eration caused by gravity. We also have seen that they can
be either repulsive or attractive while gravitational forces are always
OBJ ECTIVES attractive. Many scientists made attempts to measure electrical force.
• Summarize the relation- Daniel Bernoulli, otherwise known for his work on fluids, made some
ship between forces crude measurements in 1760. In 1770, Henry Cavendish showed that elec-
and charges. trical forces must obey an inverse square force law, but, being extremely
• Describe how an shy, he did not publish his work. His manuscripts were discovered over a
electroscope detects century later, after all his work had been duplicated by others.
electric charge.
• Explain how to charge by Forces on Charged Bodies
conduction and induction. The forces you observed on tape strips also can be demonstrated by
• Use Coulomb’s law to suspending a negatively charged hard rubber rod so that it turns easily,
solve problems relating to as shown in Figure 20–6. If you bring another negatively charged rod
electrical force. near the suspended rod, it will turn away. The negative charges on the
• Develop a model of how rods repel each other. It is not necessary for the rods to make contact;
charged objects can attract the force, called the electrical force, acts over a distance. If a positively
a neutral object. charged glass rod is suspended and a similarly charged glass rod
is brought close, the two positively charged rods also will repel each
other. If a negatively charged rod is brought near the positively charged
rod, however, the two will attract each other, and the suspended rod will
turn toward the oppositely charged rod. The results of your tape experi-
ments and these observations with charged rods can be summarized in
this way:
• There are two kinds of electrical charges, positive and negative.
• Charges exert force on other charges over a distance.
FIGURE 20–6 A charged rod,
• The force is stronger when the charges are closer together.
when brought close to another • Like charges repel; opposite charges attract.
suspended rod, will attract or
repel the suspended rod.

+++ – –– – +++ –
++ –– ––

a b c

468 Static Electricity

Neither a strip of tape nor a large rod hanging in open air is a very sen- Knob
sitive or convenient way of determining charge. Instead, a device called Insulator
an electroscope is used. An electroscope consists of a metal knob con-
nected by a metal stem to two thin, lightweight pieces of metal foil
called leaves, as shown in Figure 20–7. Note that the leaves are
enclosed to eliminate stray air currents. Leaves

Charging by conduction When a negatively charged rod is touched

to the knob of an electroscope, negative charges (electrons) are added to
the knob. The charges spread over all the metal surfaces. As shown in
Figure 20–8a, the two leaves are charged negatively and repel each
other, causing them to spread apart. The electroscope has been given a
net charge. Charging a neutral body this way, by touching it with a
charged body, is called charging by conduction.
The leaves also will spread if the electroscope is charged positively. FIGURE 20–7 An electroscope
is a device used for detecting
How, then, can you find out whether the electroscope is charged posi- electrical charges.
tively or negatively? The type of charge can be determined by observing
what happens to the spread leaves if a rod of known charge is brought
close to the knob. The leaves will spread farther apart if the electroscope
has the same charge as that of the rod, as shown in Figure 20–8b. The
leaves will fall slightly if the electroscope has a charge opposite to that
of the rod, as in Figure 20–8c.

Separation of charge on neutral objects Earlier in the chapter,

when you brought your finger near either charged strip of tape, the tape
was attracted toward your finger. Your finger, however, was not charged;
it was neutral and had equal amounts of positive and negative charge.
You know that in materials that are conductors, charges can move eas-
ily, and that in the case of sparks, electric forces can change insulators
into conductors. Given this information, you can develop a plausible
model for the force your finger exerted on the charged objects.

– –– + ++
–––––– – + +++ +
+
––– –
– ––––––
–

FIGURE 20–8 A negatively

charged electroscope will have its
leaves spread (a). A negatively
– –– – charged rod pushes electrons
–– –– ––
–– –– –– ––– –– –– down to the leaves, causing them
–
to spread more (b). A positively
charged rod attracts some of the
electrons from the leaves, caus-
a b c ing them to spread apart less (c).

20.2 Electrical Force 469

 Suppose you move your finger, or any other uncharged object, close
to a positively charged object. The negative charges in your finger will be
attracted to the positively charged object, and the positive charges in
your finger will be repelled. Your finger will remain neutral, but the pos-
itive and negative charges will be separated. The electrical force is
stronger for the charged objects that are closer together, therefore, the
separation results in an attractive force between the neutral object and
the charged object. The force of a charged comb on your hair or on
neutral pieces of paper is the result of the same process, the separation
of charge.
Sky Light The negative charges at the bottom of thunderclouds also can cause
charge separation in Earth. Positive charges in the ground are attracted
➥ Answers question from to Earth’s surface under the cloud. The forces of the charges in the cloud
page 460.
and those on Earth’s surface can break molecules apart, separating the
positively and negatively charged particles. These charged particles are
free to move, and they establish a conducting path from the ground to
the cloud. Travelling at 500 000 kilometers per hour, a lightning bolt
courses through the sky to discharge the cloud.

Charging by induction Charge separation can be used to charge an

object without touching it. Suppose that a negatively charged rod is
brought close to one of two identical insulated metal spheres that are
touching, as in Figure 20–9b. Electrons from the first sphere will be
forced onto the sphere farther from the rod and will make it negatively
charged. The closer sphere is now positively charged. If the spheres are
separated while the rod is nearby, each sphere will have a charge, and
the charges will be equal but opposite, as shown in Figure 20–9c. This
process is called charging by induction.

Coulomb’s Law
You have seen that charges push and pull on each other. That is,
a force acts between two or more charged objects. How does this
force depend on the size of the charges and their separation? You

–
– ––
––

– + – + + – + –
+ + – – + + – –
+ – – + + + – + –
– + – –
+ – + – + + –
FIGURE 20–9 Start with neutral
spheres that are touching (a),
bring a charged rod near them
(b), and then separate the
spheres and remove the charged
rod (c). This is one example of
charging by induction. a b c

470 Static Electricity

demonstrated in your experiments with tape some basic properties. You
found that the force depends on distance. The closer you brought the
charged rod to the tape, the stronger the force. You also found that the Thin wire
more you charged the rod, the stronger the force. But how can you vary
A‘
the quantity of charge in a controlled way? This problem was solved in
1785 by French physicist Charles Coulomb (1736–1806). The type of
A
apparatus used by Coulomb is shown in Figure 20–10. An insulating
B
rod with small conducting spheres, A and A’, at each end was suspended
by a thin wire. A similar sphere, B, was placed in contact with sphere A. Charged
When they were touched with a charged object, the charge spread spheres
evenly over the two spheres. Because they were the same size, they
received equal amounts of charge. The symbol for charge is q. Therefore,
the amount of charge on the spheres can be represented by the notation
qA and qB.
Coulomb found how the force between the two charged spheres, A B A
and B, depended on the distance. First, he carefully measured the d
amount of force needed to twist the suspending wire through a given
angle. He then placed equal charges on spheres A and B and varied the
Deflection of A
distance, d, between them. The force moved A from its rest position,
twisting the suspending wire. By measuring the deflection of A,
Coulomb could calculate the force of repulsion. He showed that the FIGURE 20–10 Coulomb used
force, F, varied inversely with the square of the distance between the this type of apparatus to measure
the force between two spheres, A
centers of the spheres. and B. He observed the deflection
1 of A while varying the distance
F  
d2 between A and B.

To investigate the way in which the force depended on the amount of

charge, Coulomb had to change the charges on the spheres in a mea-
sured way. Coulomb first charged spheres A and B equally, as before.
Then he selected an extra uncharged sphere, C, the same size as sphere
B. When C was placed in contact with B, the spheres shared the charge
that had been on B alone. Because the two were the same size, B now Pocket Lab
had only half its original charge. Therefore, the charge on B was only
one half the charge on A. The extra sphere was then removed. After Charged Up
Coulomb adjusted the position of B so that the distance, d, between
A and B was the same as before, he found that the force between A and
B was half of its former value. That is, he found that the force varied Rub a balloon with wool.
directly with the charge of the bodies. Touch the balloon to the knob
of an electroscope and watch
F  qAqB the leaves.
Analyze and Conclude
After many similar measurements, Coulomb summarized the Describe the result. Make a
results in a law now known as Coulomb’s law: the magnitude of the drawing to explain the result.
Touch the knob of the electro-
force between charge qA and charge qB, separated a distance d, is pro- scope to make the leaves fall.
portional to the magnitude of the charges and inversely proportional to Would you expect that the wool
the square of the distance. could move the leaves? Why?
q qB Try it. Explain your results.
F  A
d2

20.2 Electrical Force 471

 The unit of charge: The coulomb The amount of charge an object
has is difficult to measure directly. Coulomb, however, showed that the
quantity of charge could be related to force. Thus, he could define a

Pocket Lab standard quantity of charge in terms of the amount of force it produces.
The SI standard unit of charge is called the coulomb (C). One coulomb
is the charge of 6.25  1018 electrons or protons. Recall that the charge
Reach Out
of protons and electrons is equal. The charge that produces a large light-
ning bolt is about 10 coulombs. The charge on an individual electron is
only 1.60  1019 C. The magnitude of the charge of an electron is
Start with the leaves of an
called the elementary charge. Thus, as you will calculate in problem 22
electroscope down. Predict
what should happen if you in the Chapter Review, even small pieces of matter, such as the coins in
bring a charged balloon near your pocket, contain up to 1 million coulombs of negative charge. This
(but not touching) the top of enormous amount of charge produces almost no external effects
the electroscope. because it is balanced by an equal amount of positive charge. However,
Analyze and Conclude if the charge is unbalanced, even as small of a charge as 109 C can
Explain your prediction. Try it.
Describe and explain your results. result in large forces.
According to Coulomb’s law, the magnitude of the force on charge qA
caused by charge qB a distance d away can be written as follows.
q qB
Coulomb’s Law F  K A
d2
When the charges are measured in coulombs, the distance is mea-
sured in meters, and the force is measured in newtons, the constant, K,
is 9.0  109 Nm2/C2.
This equation gives the magnitude of the force that charge qA exerts
on qB and also the force that qB exerts on qA. These two forces are equal
in magnitude but opposite in direction. You can observe this example
of Newton’s third law of motion in action when you bring two strips of
tape with like charges together. Each exerts forces on the other. If you
bring a charged comb near either strip of tape, the strip, with its small
mass, moves readily. The acceleration of the comb and you is, of course,
much less because of the much greater mass.
The electrical force, like all other forces, is a vector quantity. Force vec-
FIGURE 20–11 The rule for
tors need both a magnitude and a direction. However, Coulomb’s law
determining direction of force is will furnish only the magnitude of the force. To determine the direction,
like charges repel, unlike charges you need to draw a diagram and interpret charge relations carefully.
attract. Consider the direction of force on
a positively charged object called
A B A. If another positively charged
F B on A F A on B
object, B, is brought near, the force
+ + on A is repulsive. The force, FB on A,
a acts in the direction from B to A, as
shown in Figure 20–11a. If,
A B instead, B is negatively charged,
F B on A F A on B the force on A is attractive and acts
+ – in the direction from A to B, as
b shown in Figure 20–11b.

472 Static Electricity

Laser Printers
Static electricity is important to the operation of laser printers.
Inside a laser printer, static electrical charges are used to transfer a
black powder, commonly called toner, onto paper to create images or
text. Letters and other shapes are actually composed of tiny dots of toner
that are heat-bonded onto the paper. The dots are so numerous and placed
so closely together that they merge to form very finely detailed images.

1 1 Processor
The computer sends instructions to the
microprocessor that operates the laser Light source
printer. The microprocessor controls the
aiming and timing of a light source, either
Toner
a laser or a light-emitting diode (LED). 3
2 The surface of the metal drum is coated Dru

m
with a photosensitive semiconductor. In 2
dark, the semiconductor is an insulator. 4
As the drum rotates, it is sprayed with elec- 7
trons, giving the surface a negative charge. 6

3 According to instructions received 5

from the processor, a beam of light
sweeps over the surface of the drum.
Wherever the light strikes, the semi- 6 After picking up toner 7 The drum is returned
conductor becomes a conductor, from the drum, the to the dark where it is
and charges leak onto the support- paper moves into the an insulator. The sur-
ing drum. These uncharged areas on fusing system. Here the faces are recharged
the semiconductor correspond to the paper is exposed to heat and are ready to
white portions of the page. and pressure that melts receive the image of
the grains of toner and another page.
4 The drum is rotated so that it con- binds them to the paper.
tacts uncharged toner particles.
Toner contains small plastic beads
coated in graphite. As the drum
Thinking Critically
passes by the toner, the beads are 1. Photocopiers also use 2. In the process, notice
attracted to the charged areas. toner, a photosensitive that the areas exposed
drum, and fusing sys- to laser light become
5 A sheet of paper that is being
pushed by rollers through the tem. Describe what you the white part of a
printer’s paper train receives a think might be some of page. Design a process
small opposite charge. The paper the similarities and dif- where the exposed
passing by the rotating drum ferences of photocopiers areas become the black
electrically attracts the toner. and laser printers? part of a page.

20.2 Electrical Force 473

 Electrical Force Problems
1. Sketch the system showing all distances and angles to scale.
2. Diagram the vectors of the system; include derived vectors
using dashed lines.
3. Use Coulomb’s law to find the magnitude of the force.
4. Use your diagram along with trigonometric relations to find
the direction of the force.
5. Perform all algebraic operations on units as well as the num-
bers. Make sure the units match the variable in question.
6. Consider the magnitude of your answer. Is it reasonable?

Notice in this problem solving strategy that Coulomb’s law only is

used to determine magnitudes. Therefore, it is unnecessary to include
the sign of the charges or distance when evaluating Coulomb’s law,
because the answer is always positive.

Example Problem
Coulomb’s Law
Two charges are separated by 3.0 cm. Object A has a charge of 6.0 C,
while object B has a charge of 3.0 C. What is the force on object A?

Sketch the Problem +x A B

dAB
• Establish coordinate axes.
• Label spheres A and B. qA qB

• Draw distance dAB.

• Diagram the force vectors. FB on A
A
Calculate Your Answer
Known: Strategy: Calculations:
qA  6.0 C Use Coulomb’s law. Do q qB
FB on A  K A
qB  3.0 C not include signs when dAB2
using Coulomb’s law. (6.0 C)(3.0 C)
dAB  0.030 m
The direction of force is FB on A  (9.0  109 Nm2/C2) 
(3.0  102 m)2
Unknown: determined by the
FB on A  ? diagram. FB on A  1.8  102 N,  x direction

Check Your Answer

• Are the units correct? Perform algebra on the units to ensure that
your answer is in newtons.
• Does the direction make sense? It agrees with the coordinate axis
and direction of push of charge B.

474 Static Electricity

 • Is the magnitude realistic? Look at the magnitudes in the equation
109  106  106 102 102  101. This is close to the
answer, so the magnitude checks.

Example Problem
Coulomb’s Law with Three Charges
A sphere with charge 6.0 C is located near two other charged
spheres. A 3.0-C sphere is located 4.00 cm to the right and a 1.5-C
sphere is located 3.00 cm directly underneath. Determine the net force
FC on A
on the 6.0-C sphere. Fnet

+y B
Sketch the Problem A dAB ␪
+x A
• Establish coordinate axes. dAC
qA qB FB on A
• Draw the displacement vectors.
• Diagram the force vectors.
C qC
Calculate Your Answer
Known: Strategy: Calculations:
qAqB (6.0 C)(3.0 C)
qA  6.0 C Use Coulomb’s law. FB on A  K    (9.0 GNm2/C2) 
Do not include dAB2 (4.00  102 m)2
qB  3.0 C
signs when using
FB on A  1.0  102 N, to the right
qC  1.5 C Coulomb’s law (refer
to the problem- K qAqC (6.0 C)(1.5 C)
dAB  0.0400 m FC on A    (9.0 GNm2/C2) 
solving strategy). dAC2 (3.00  102 m)2
dAC  0.0300 m The direction of
FC on A  9.0  101 N, up
force is determined
by the diagram.
FC on A 9.0  101 N
Unknown: Use the tangent tan    ,  42°
FB on A 1.0  102 N
FB on A  ? function to find .

FC on A  ? Use the Pythagorean Fnet  (1.0

 
102 N 
)2  (9.0 
101 N)2  130 N
theorem to find Fnet.
Fnet  ? Fnet  130 N, 42° above x-axis

Check Your Answer

• Are the units correct? Perform algebra
on the units to ensure that your answer is in newtons.
• Does the direction make sense? It agrees with direction of force of
the charge.
• Is the magnitude realistic? A magnitude of 130 N fits with the
quantities given.

20.2 Electrical Force 475

 Practice Problems
1. A negative charge of 2.0  104 C and a positive charge of
8.0 104 C are separated by 0.30 m. What is the force between
the two charges?
2. A negative charge of 6.0  106 C exerts an attractive force of
65 N on a second charge 0.050 m away. What is the magnitude
of the second charge?
a
3. Two positive charges of 6.0 C are separated by 0.50 m. What
force exists between the charges?
4. An object with charge 7.5  107 C is placed at the origin. The
position of a second object, charge 1.5  107 C, is varied
from 1.0 cm to 5.0 cm. Draw a graph of the force on the object
at the origin.
5. The charge on B in the second Example Problem is replaced by
3.00 C. Use graphical methods to find the net force on A.

Application of Electrical Forces

There are many applications of electrical forces on neutral particles. For
b example, these forces can collect soot in smokestacks, thereby reducing
FIGURE 20–12 Static electricity air pollution, as shown in Figure 20–12. Tiny paint droplets, charged by
precipitators are used to reduce
induction, can be used to paint automobiles and other objects very uni-
the fly ash released into the envi-
ronment. In (a) the device is off, formly. Photocopy machines use static electricity to place black toner on
in (b) it is on. a page so that a precise reproduction of the original document is made.

20.2 Section Review

1. How are force and charge related? 4. Identify electrical forces around you. How
Describe the force if the charges are could you demonstrate their existence?
the same charge. Opposite charges? 5. Critical Thinking Suppose you are testing
2. When an electroscope is charged, the Coulomb’s law using a small, positively-
leaves rise to a certain angle and remain charged plastic sphere and a large,
at that angle. Why don’t they rise farther? positively-charged metal sphere. According
3. Two charged spheres are on a frictionless to Coulomb’s law, the force depends on
horizontal surface. One has a 3 C 1/d2, where d is the distance between the
charge, the other a 6 C charge. Sketch centers of the spheres. As the spheres get
the two spheres, showing all forces on close together, the force is smaller than
them. Make the length of your force arrows expected from Coulomb’s law. Explain.
proportional to the strength of the forces.

476 Static Electricity

CHAPTER 20 REVIEW
Summary
20.1 Electrical Charge the object to be
Key Terms • There are two kinds of electrical charge, charged is separated,
positive and negative. Like charges trapping opposite charges on the
repel; unlike charges attract. two halves.
20.1 • Coulomb’s law states that the force
• Electrical charge is not created or
• electrostatics destroyed; it is conserved. between two charges varies directly
• neutral • Objects can be charged by the transfer with the product of their charge and
• insulator of electrons. inversely with the square of the dis-
• Charges added to one part of an insula- tance between them.
• conductor • The SI unit of charge is the coulomb.
tor remain on that part.
20.2 • Charges added to a conductor quickly One coulomb (C) is the magnitude of
• electroscope spread over the surface of the object. the charge of 6.25  1018 electrons or
protons. The elementary charge, the
• charging by
conduction 20.2 Electrical Force charge of the proton or electron, is
• When an electroscope is charged, elec- 1.60  1019 C.
• charging by
induction trical forces cause its thin metal leaves
to spread. Key Equation
• Coulomb’s law
• An object can be charged by conduc-
• coulomb tion by touching a charged object to it. 20.2
q qB
• elementary • To charge an object by induction, a F  K A
charge charged object is first brought nearby, d2
causing a separation of charges. Then

Reviewing Concepts
Section 20.1 7. How does the distance between
1. If you comb your hair on a dry day, two charges impact the force between
the comb can become positively them? If the distance is decreased
charged. Can your hair remain while the charges remain the same,
neutral? Explain. what happens to the force?
2. List some insulators and conductors. 8. Explain how to charge a conductor
3. What property makes metal a good negatively if you have only a
conductor and rubber a good insulator? positively charged rod.

Section 20.2 Applying Concepts

4. Why do socks taken from a clothes 9. How does the charge of an electron
dryer sometimes cling to other clothes? differ from the charge of a proton?
5. If you wipe a stereo record with a 10. Using a charged rod and an electro-
clean cloth, why does the record then scope, how can you find whether
attract dust? or not an object is a conductor?
6. The combined charge of all electrons 11. A charged rod is brought near a pile of
in a nickel is hundreds of thousands tiny plastic spheres. Some of the spheres
of coulombs. Does that imply any- are attracted to the rod, but as soon as
thing about the net charge on the they touch the rod, they fly away in
coin? Explain. different directions. Explain.

Chapter 20 Review 477

CHAPTER 20 REVIEW

12. Lightning usually occurs when a negative charge 21. How many excess electrons are on a ball with
in a cloud is transported to Earth. If Earth is neu- a charge of 4.00  1017 C?
tral, what provides the attractive force that pulls 22. How many coulombs of charge are on the elec-
the electrons toward Earth? trons in a nickel? Use the following method to
13. Explain what happens to the leaves of a posi- find the answer.
tively charged electroscope when rods with the a. Find the number of atoms in a nickel. A
following charges are nearby but not touching nickel has a mass of about 5 g. Each mole
the electroscope. (6.02  1023 atoms) has a mass of about 58 g.
a. positive b. negative b. Find the number of electrons in the coin.
14. Coulomb’s law and Newton’s law of universal A nickel is 75% Cu and 25% Ni, so each
gravitation appear to be similar. In what ways atom on average has 28.75 electrons.
are the electrical and gravitational forces simi- c. Find how many coulombs of charge are on
lar? How are they different? the electrons.
15. The text describes Coulomb’s method for 23. A strong lightning bolt transfers about 25 C
obtaining two charged spheres, A and B, so that to Earth.
the charge on B was exactly half the charge on a. How many electrons are transferred?
A. Suggest a way Coulomb could have placed a b. If each water molecule donates one elec-
charge on sphere B that was exactly one third tron, what mass of water lost an electron
the charge on sphere A. to the lightning? One mole of water has a
16. Coulomb measured the deflection of sphere A mass of 18 g.
when spheres A and B had equal charges and 24. Two electrons in an atom are separated by
were a distance d apart. He then made the 1.5  1010 m, the typical size of an atom.
charge on B one third the charge on A. How far What is the electrical force between them?
apart would the two spheres then have to be
25. A positive and a negative charge, each of
for A to have the same deflection it had before?
magnitude 1.5  105 C, are separated by a
17. Two charged bodies exert a force of 0.145 N on
distance of 15 cm. Find the force on each of
each other. If they are moved so that they are
the particles.
one fourth as far apart, what force is exerted?
26. Two negatively charged bodies, each charged
18. The constant, K, in Coulomb’s equation is much
with 5.0  105 C, are 0.20 m from each
larger than the constant, G, in the universal grav-
other. What force acts on each particle?
itation equation. Of what significance is this?
27. How far apart are two electrons if they exert a
19. Electrical forces between charges are enormous
force of repulsion of 1.0 N on each other?
in comparison to gravitational forces. Yet we
normally do not sense electrical forces between
28. A force of 4.4  103 N exists between a
us and our surroundings, while we do sense positive charge of 8.0  104 C and a nega-
gravitational interactions with Earth. Explain. tive charge of 3.0  104 C. What distance
separates the charges?
29. Two identical positive charges exert a repul-
Problems sive force of 6.4  109 N when separated by
Section 20.2 a distance of 3.8  1010 m. Calculate the
20. Two charges, qA and qB, are separated by a charge of each.
distance, d, and exert a force, F, on each 30. A positive charge of 3.0 C is pulled on
other. Analyze Coulomb’s law and identify by two negative charges. One, 2.0 C,
what new force will exist if is 0.050 m to the north and the other,
a. qA is doubled. 4.0 C, is 0.030 m to the south. What
b. qA and qB are cut in half. total force is exerted on the positive charge?
c. d is tripled. 31. Three particles are placed in a line. The left
d. d is cut in half. particle has a charge of 67 C, the middle,
e. qA is tripled and d is doubled. 45 C, and the right, 83 C. The middle

478 Static Electricity

 CHAPTER 20 REVIEW

particle is 72 cm from each of the others, as vertical. The ball is in equilibrium with FE, Fg,
shown in Figure 20–13. and FT. Calculate each of the following.
a. Find the net force on the middle particle. a. Fg
b. Find the net force on the right particle. b. FE
c. the charge on the balls
–67
C + 45
C – 83
C

72 cm 72 cm
30.0°
FIGURE 20–13

FE
Extra Practice For more
practice solving problems, go 3.0 cm
to Extra Practice Problems, FIGURE 20–15
Appendix B.
Going Further
Using a Graphing Calculator Determine how
Critical Thinking Problems force depends on distance. A 1 C charge
is at x  8 mm, and a 1 C charge is at
32. Three charged spheres are located at the posi-
x  8 mm. Find the force on a 1 C test
tions shown in Figure 20–14. Find
charge that is at x  10 mm. Use Coulomb’s
the total force on sphere B.
law to calculate the force. Repeat for 11 mm,
y
4.5
C B –8.2
C etc., until you reach 40 mm. Plot the force as a
function of distance. One way to explore how
A + – x
4.0 cm the force depends on distance is to plot your
results on log-paper. You also can plot the
3.0 cm
results on a calculator or computer. Use log
scales on both the x and y axes.
C + +6.0
C
The slope of the line, m, indicates the power
FIGURE 20–14
to which x is raised. For example, if x changes
33. Two charges, qA and qB, are at rest near a by a factor of 10 and y changes by a factor of
positive test charge, qT, of 7.2 C. The first 1/100, then the slope is m  2, and the force is
charge, qA, is a positive charge of 3.6 C, proportional to x2. If the slope is not constant,
located 2.5 cm away from qT at 35°; qB is a then you cannot write an equation for the force
negative charge of 6.6 C, located 6.8 cm as xm. Over what range of distances is the slope
away at 125°. constant? What is its slope?
a. Determine the magnitude of each of the Essay Research and describe the historical develop-
forces acting on qT. ment of the concept of electrical force.
b. Sketch a force diagram.
c. Graphically determine the resultant force
acting on qT.
34. The two pith balls in Figure 20–15 each have a
PHYSICS
mass of 1.0 g and equal charge. One pith ball To review content, do the
is suspended by an insulating thread. The other interactive quizzes on the
is brought to 3.0 cm from the suspended ball. Glencoe Science Web site at
The suspended ball is now hanging with the science.glencoe.com
thread forming an angle of 30.0° with the

Chapter 20 Review 479