• All charged particles produce an electric field around it
  • This field exerts a force on any other charged particle within range

   

• The electrostatic force between two charges is defined by?Coulomb’s Law
  • Recall that the charge of a uniform spherical conductor can be considered as a?point charge?at its centre

   

• Coulomb’s Law states that:

The electrostatic force between two point charges is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of their separation

• The Coulomb equation is defined as:

The electrostatic force between two charges is defined by Coulomb’s Law

• Where:
  • FE?= electrostatic force between two charges (N)
  • Q1?and?Q2?= two point charges (C)
  • ε0?=?permittivity of free space
  • r?= distance between the centre of the charges (m)

   

• The 1/r2?relation is called the?inverse square law
  • This means that when the separation of two charges doubles, the electrostatic force between them reduces by (?)2?= ?

   

• ε0?is a physical constant used to show the capability of a vacuum to permit electric fields
• If there is a positive and negative charge, then the electrostatic force is negative
  • This can be interpreted as an?attractive force

   

• If the charges are the same, the electrostatic force is positive
  • This can be interpreted as a?repulsive force

   

• Since uniformly charged spheres can be considered as point charges, Coulomb’s law can be applied to find the electrostatic force between them as long as the separation is taken from the?centre?of both spheres

Step 1: Write down the known quantities

• • Distance,?r?= 2.0 mm =2.0 × 10-3 m

The charge of one proton = +1.60 × 10-19?C

An alpha particle (helium nucleus) has 2 protons

• • Charge of alpha particle,?Q1?= 2 × 1.60 × 10-19?= +3.2 × 10-19 C

The gold nucleus has 79 protons

• • Charge of gold nucleus,?Q2?= 79 × 1.60 × 10-19?= +1.264 × 10-17 C

Step 2: The electrostatic force between two point charges is given by Coulomb’s Law

Step 3: Substitute values into Coulomb's Law

• When calculating the force between two charges, air is treated as a?vacuum
  • This is why?ε0, the permittivity of?free?space is used

   

• For a point outside a spherical conductor, the charge of the sphere may be considered to be a?point charge?at its centre
  • A?uniform?spherical conductor is one where its charge is?distributed evenly

   

• The electric field lines around a spherical conductor are therefore?identical to those around a point charge
  • An example of a spherical conductor is a?charged sphere

   

• The field lines are?radial?and their direction depends on the charge of the sphere
  • If the spherical conductor is?positively?charged, the field lines are directed?away?from the centre of the sphere
  • If the spherical conductor is?negatively?charged, the field lines are directed?towards?the centre of the sphere

   

Electric field lines around a uniform spherical conductor are identical to those on a point charge