Electric charge is a fundamental property of matter that describes the presence of an imbalance between protons (positively charged particles) and electrons (negatively charged particles) in an object. There are two types of electric charge: positive and negative. Objects with the same type of charge repel each other, while objects with opposite charges attract each other.
The unit of electric charge is the "coulomb" (C). One coulomb of charge represents a significant amount of charge, considering the charge of individual electrons and protons is extremely small. The charge of an electron is approximately -1.602 x 10^-19 C, and the charge of a proton is the same magnitude but positive.
The law of conservation of electric charge states that electric charge cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transferred from one object to another. This means that in any physical process, the total electric charge before and after the process remains the same.
Objects can acquire electric charge through various methods:
Friction: Rubbing two different materials together can transfer electrons from one material to the other, causing a charge imbalance.
Conduction: When two objects come into direct contact, electrons can transfer from one object to the other, equalizing their charges.
Induction: If a charged object is brought close to a neutral object, it can influence the distribution of charges in the neutral object without direct contact.
Electrostatic Induction: This is a process where a charged object is brought near a conductor, causing a separation of charges within the conductor without direct contact.
Triboelectric Series: This is a list of materials ranked according to their tendency to gain or lose electrons when rubbed against another material. It helps predict which material will become positively charged and which will become negatively charged in a frictional process.
Electric charges interact through electric fields. An electric field is a region in which an electric charge experiences a force. The strength of the electric field depends on the magnitude of the charges and their separation distance. Mathematically, the electric field (E) created by a point charge (Q) at a certain distance (r) from the charge is given by Coulomb's law:
=
⋅
2
E=
r
2
k⋅Q
Where:
k is Coulomb's constant (
8.9875
×
1
0
9
N
⋅
m
2
/
C
2
8.9875×10
9
N⋅m
2
/C
2
),
Q is the magnitude of the charge in coulombs,
r is the distance from the charge in meters.
It's important to note that electric charges play a fundamental role in many everyday phenomena, from the operation of electronic devices to the behavior of lightning and the structure of atoms.