1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

INTRODUCTION

Electrostatics is the field of physics that studies the fundamental properties of space in
which immobile charges are placed in a given frame of reference. These charges are the
source of physical quantities such as electrostatic force, electrostatic field, electrostatic
potential and electrostatic energy.

I. Electric charges

I.1. Electrification

If two plastic (or rubber) rulers are rubbed together with a cloth, they will repel each other. If
two glass rulers are rubbed together with a cloth, they will also repel each other.
However, if you put a glass ruler and a plastic ruler together and rub them with a cloth, they
will attract each other.

This physical phenomenon, known as electrification, was discovered by the Greek

philosopher and philosopher and scholar Thales of Milt, in the 6th century J-C.

✓ This experiment shows that there are two types of electric charge:
• Positive charges
• And negative charges.

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

✓ Two identical electric charges repel each other; two opposite electric charges attract
each other.

✓ A body is said to be :
• Positively charged if it has more protons than electrons (q > 0)
• Negatively charged if it has more electrons than protons (q < 0)
• Neutral if it has as many protons as electrons. (q = 0)

I.2 Properties of electric charges

➢ Quantifying electric charge.

In 1913, the American physicist Robert A. Millikan used an experiment involving an

experiment involving electrified drops of oil, the fact that any electric charge electric charge q
is quantized, i.e. it exists only as multiples of an indivisible elementary of an indivisible
elementary charge e :
𝒒 = 𝑵. 𝒆

➢ In the International System, where the unit of electric charge is the Coulomb (symbol
C), and the unit of mass is kg, the charges and masses of these three particles are as
follows:
𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏: 𝑞𝑒 = −𝑒 = −1.6 10−19 𝐶 𝑚𝑒 = 9.1091 10−31 𝑘𝑔
𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒏: 𝑞𝑝 = +𝑒 = +1.6 10−19 𝐶 𝑚𝑒 = 1.6725 10−27 𝑘𝑔
𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏: 𝑞𝑛 = 0 𝐶 𝑚𝑛 = 1.6748 10−27 𝑘𝑔

➢ The electric charge of a body is equal to the algebraic sum of its constituent charges.
constitute it 𝑄𝑇 = ∑ 𝑞𝑖 .

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

➢ The total electric charge of an isolated system (one that does not exchange matter with
the external environment) is constant. This is the conservation of electrical charge.

➢ Charges point: negligible dimensions compared to the distances between the charges.

II. ECTROSTATIC FORCE.

II.1. Coulomb's law.
In 1785, Coulomb carried out a series of measurements using a torsion balance balance,
which enabled him to determine the characteristics of the electrostatic interaction force
between two point charges q1 and q2 separated by a distance r.

These experiments revealed an analogy with Newton's law of universal gravitation.

Coulomb then proposed the mathematical expression:
𝑲 𝒒𝟏 𝒒𝟐
⃗𝑭 = ⃗
𝒖
𝒓𝟐
⃗ denotes the force exerted by the load 𝒒𝟏 on the load 𝒒𝟐 and 𝒖
𝑭 ⃗ a unit vector carried by the
straight line joining the two loads and oriented from 𝒒𝟏 to 𝒒𝟐 .
K: coulmb’s constant in the MKSA system, this constant was given the value:
𝟏
𝑲 = 𝟒𝝅𝜺 = 9 109 𝑁𝑚2 /𝐶 2
𝟎

𝜺𝟎 : is called the permittivity free of space 𝜀0 : 8.854 10−12 F/m

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

II-2 Several Charges point

When several charges are involved, the principle of superposition must be applied, which
states that the force acting on any one charge by several charges of a system is the vectorial
sum of the forces that each charge taken separately would exert on this charge.
Let a point charge Q at point M be subjected to the action of n point charges qi. The force felt
by charge q is given by :

⃗𝑭 = ∑ ⃗𝑭𝒊

⃗𝑭 = ⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑭𝟏 + ⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑭𝟐 + ⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑭𝟑

Example: At the vertices of the angles of a right-angled triangle ABC, such that the distance
r1 = AB=1.2 m and r2 = CB= 0.5 m, placed three charges q1 = 1,510-3C, q2 = -0,510-3C and
q3 = 0,210-3C.
• Calculate the resultant electrical force acting on the charge q3.

Answer

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

III. ELECTROSTATIC FIELD

A point charge q0 modifies the properties of the space surrounding it. It is said to creates an
electrostatic field or electric field in its vicinity. This field is characterized by the vector 𝐸⃗ .
The charge q0 is a field source.

III.1 Electric Field Due to a Charged Particle

A point charge q placed in an electric field is subject to an electrostatic force 𝐹 .

⃗𝑭= q. ⃗𝑬

⃗𝑭 𝒒
⃗⃗ =
From Coulomb's law, we deduce : 𝑬 =𝑲 ⃗
𝒖
𝒒 𝒓𝟐

The units of E are Newtons per Coulomb (units = N/C).

• The electric field near a positive charge is directed radially away from the charge.
• The electric field near a negative charge is directed radially into the charge.

III.2 Electric Field Due to more one charge

In the case of n charges q1, q2,…..qn located respectively at points P1, P2,…..Pn:
The resulting field at a point M is the sum of the fields created by each charge (principle of
of superposition):

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

IV. Electrical Potential :

The electric potential from a point charge, Q, at a distance, r, from the location of Q is a
𝒒
scalar given by the following relation: 𝑽=𝒌
𝒓

For several charges we have : 𝑽 = 𝑽𝟏 + 𝑽𝟐 + 𝑽𝟑 + ⋯ . +𝑽𝒏

𝒏 𝒏
𝒒𝒊
𝑽 = ∑ 𝑽𝒊 = 𝒌 ∑
𝒓𝒊
𝒊=𝟏 𝒊=𝟏

Notes: - the relationship between V and ⃗𝑬 is : ⃗𝑬 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ 𝑽

⃗ = −𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅

V.1 Electrostatic potential energy of one point charge

The electrostatic potential energy, UE, of one point charge q at position r in the presence of a
point charge Q, taking an infinite separation between the charges as the reference position, is:

𝒒.𝑸
𝑼𝑬 = 𝒌
𝒓

V.2 One point charge q in the presence of n point charges Qi

The electrostatic potential energy, Ep of one point charge q in the presence of n point charges Qi, taking an
infinite separation between the charges as the reference position, is:
𝒏
𝑸𝒊
𝑬𝑷 = 𝒌𝒒 ∑
𝒓𝒊
𝒊=𝟏

ri is the distance between the point charges q and Qi, and q and Qi are the assigned values of
the charges.

V.3 Electrostatic potential energy stored in a system of point charges

The electrostatic potential energy ESYS stored in a system of N charges q1, q2, …, qN at
positions r1, r2, …, rN respectively, is:
𝑵
𝟏 𝒒𝒊 𝒒𝒋
𝑬𝑺𝒀𝑺 = 𝒌∑
𝟐 𝒓𝒊𝒋
𝒊=𝟏
𝒊≠𝒋

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

VI. The Electric Dipole.

An electric "dipole" is two equal and opposite point charges separated by a distance d. It is an
electrically neutral system.
The "dipole moment" is defined to be the charge times the separation 𝑃⃗ = 𝑞𝑑
VI-1 Electric potential created by a dipole.

By definition and according to the principle of superposition, the potential V produced by this
dipole at a point M located at a distance r from the centre O of the dipole:

𝒒 𝒒 𝒒 𝟏 𝟏 𝒒 𝒓𝟐 − 𝒓𝟏
𝑽𝑴 = − = ( − )= ( )
𝟒𝝅𝜺𝟎 𝒓𝟏 𝟒𝝅𝜺𝟎 𝒓𝟐 𝟒𝝅𝜺𝟎 𝒓𝟏 𝒓𝟐 𝟒𝝅𝜺𝟎 𝒓𝟏 𝒓𝟐

Let H be the projection of B on to AM :

𝑨𝑯 = 𝒅 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽 = 𝒓𝟐 − 𝒓𝟏

As : 𝒓 ≫ 𝒅

We can approximated: 𝒓 ≈ 𝒓𝟏 ≈ 𝒓𝟐 then 𝒓𝟏 𝒓𝟐 ≈ 𝒓𝟐

Consequently, the potential created at M by the dipole is:

VI.2 Calculation of the electric field created by a dipole.

The relationship between the field and the potential is,

⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ 𝑽
⃗𝑬 = −𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅

In polar coordinates:

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

Electric Field Lines

The electric field near a positive charge is directed radially away from the charge. Wherever
the electric field near a negative charge is directed radially into the charge. (This idea was
introduced by Michael Faraday).
Electric field line diverge from (i.e. start) on positive charge
and end on negative charge. The direction of the line is the direction of the electric field.

(a) shows the field lines for two equal positive charges.

(b) shows the pattern for two charges that are equal in magnitude but of opposite sign
(electric dipole).

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

Electric Field due to a Distribution of Charge

The electric field from a continuous distribution of charge is the superposition (i.e.
integral) of all the (infinite) contributions from each Infinitesimal dq as follows:

Charge Distributions:
➢ Linear Distributions

charge density λ λ ( x) = charge/unit length

• For a straight line dQ = (x) dL and 𝑸 = ∫ 𝒅𝒒 = ∫ 𝛌 𝒅𝑳

If λ (x) is constant then dQ = λ dL and Q = λ L, where L is the length.

• For a circular arc dQ = () dL = ()Rd and 𝑸 = ∫ 𝒅𝒒 = ∫ 𝛌 𝒅𝑳

𝑸 = ∫ 𝛌 𝑹 𝒅𝜽
If () =  is constant then dq = ds
and Q = L, where L is the arc length.

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

➢ Surface distribution
charge density :(x,y) = charge/unit area
𝑸 = ∫ 𝒅𝒒 = ∫ 𝝈 𝒅𝑺
If (x,y) =  is constant then dQ = dS
and Q =  S, where S is the area.

➢ Volume distribution
Volume charge density : (x,y,z) = charge/unit volume

𝑸 = ∫ 𝒅𝒒 = ∫ 𝝆 𝒅𝑽

If (x,y,z) =  is constant then dQ = dV

and Q = V, where V is the volume.

Applications
1) the linear charge density λ of a wire of length L is given by: λ= ax2 where a is a
constant (a >0).
Calculate the total load Q carried by the wire

a sphere of radius R charged with uniform surface density σ.

The elementary charge : dq = dS
The total charge : Q =  dq =  dS
The uniformly distributed load i.e. σ=constant

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1st year MI CHAPTER I: ELECTROSTATICS

So we can take σ out of the integral Q =  S

The area of the charged sphere : S= 4π R2 ⇒ Q = 4  R 2

2) The charge of a cylinder of radius R and height h loaded in volume with the
volume density ρ= ρ0 r2 where ρ0 is a constant >0
The elementary charge : dq =  dV
The total charge : Q =  dq =  dV

𝜌 = 𝜌0 𝑟 2 ⇒ dV= r dr dθ dz l’élément de volume en coordonnées cylindriques

{
𝑉 = 𝑆. ℎ

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