ELECTROSTATICS

Static Electricity:
We can observe about us a number of physical effects that are sometimes
produced by rubbing pieces of dry matter. Sometimes an annoying shock is felt
when the door handle of an automobile (heh, heh) is touched after one slides over
the plastic-covered seat.
We may feel a shock after we walk on a woolen carpet and then touch a doorknob
(yeeeowwwie) or other metal object. The slight crackling sound heard when dry
hair is brushed and the tendency of thin sheets of paper to resist separation are
other common observations of these physical effects.
When an object shows effects of the type we have described, we say that it has an
electric charge. The process that produces electric charges on an object is called
electrification.
Electrification is most apparent when the air is dry. An object that is electrically
charged can attract small bits of cork, paper, or other lightweight particles.
Because the electric charge is confined to the object and is not moving, it is
called an electrostatic charge. Thus static electricity is stationary electricity in the
form of an electric charge at rest. Static electricity is commonly produced by
friction between two surfaces in close contact.

Absolute and Relative Permittivities of a medium:
Coulomb's Law in mathematical form:
The value of the constant K depends upon the nature of the medium. The
numerical value of the constant k depends upon the choice of units.
is an electrical property of the medium surrounding the two charges and it is
called the permittivity of that medium. The units of permittivity are farad/metre.
In case the medium is air/vacuum, it is conventional to use
0
for the permittivity
Relative permittivity Thus, in any medium
and, in air or vacuum
The ratio of the force in vacuum to the force in any other medium between the
same pair of point charges separated by the same distance is called the relative
permittivity of that medium
Relative permittivity has no units.
Electrically conducting media have a higher value of permittivity. Since vacuum
has absolutely no charge carriers, the permittivity is the lowest for vacuum. Every
medium therefore has a relative permittivity higher than unity.
Laws of Electrostatics:
LAW 1: Like charges experience forces away from each other while unlike
charges experience forces towards each other.
LAW 2: The force between two point charges is directly proportional to the
product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them.
This force acts equally on each point charge even if the charges are unequal. i.e.
the two forces are an action-reaction pair.
The force acts along the straight line joining the two charges.
Electric Field:
The concept of a field of force will be helpful as we consider the region
surrounding an electrically charged body. A second charge brought into this region
experiences a force according to Coulomb's law. Such a region is an electric field.
An electric field is said to exist in a region of space if an electric charge placed
in that region is subject to an electric force.
Let us consider a positively charged sphere +Q of Figure 16-11(A) isolated in
spare. A small positive charge +Q, which we shall call a test charge, is brought
near the surface of the sphere.
Since the test charge is in the electric field of the charged sphere and the charges
are similar, it experiences a repulsive force directed radially away from +q. Were
the charge on the sphere negative, as in Figure 16I1(B), the force acting on the test
charge would be directed radially toward -q.
An electric line of force is a line so drawn that a tangent to it at any point indicates
the orientation of the electric field at that point. We can imagine a line of force as
the path of a test charge moving slowly in a very viscous medium in response to
the force of the field. By convention, electric lines of force originate at the surface
of a positively charged body and terminate at the surface of a negatively charged
body, each line of force showing the direction in which a positive test charge
would be accelerated in that part of the field.
A line of force is normal to the surface of the charged body where it joins that
surface.
The intensity, or strength, of an electrostatic field, as well as its direction, can be
represented graphically by lines of force.
The electric field intensity is proportional to the number of lines of force
per unit area normal to the field. Where the intensity is high, the lines of force
will be close together. Where the intensity is low, the lines of force will be more
widely separated in the graphical representation of the field.
In Figure 16-12(A), electric lines of force are used to show the electric field
near two equally but oppositely charged objects. At any point in this field the
resultant force acting on a test charge +q can be represented by a vector drawn
tangent to the line of force at that point. The electric field near two objects of equal
charge of the same sign is shown by the lines of force in Figure 16-12(B). The
resultant force acting on a test charge +q placed at the midpoint between these two
similar charges would be zero.
Electrostatic Induction:
Electrostatic Induction. Electrostatic induction describes the static effect of
an electric field on a conductor
Examples
An insulated, uncharged conductor B is in the field from a positively charged
insulator A (see Figure 1). The field from A will cause electrons in B to move to
the side of B that faces A. These electrons make up the bound induced charge.
This charge cannot be removed as long as B is in the field from A. The
corresponding excess positive chargethe free induced chargeis located on the
opposite side of B. But the total charge on B is still zero, as is the field inside B.
The free induced charge (positive) creates an electric field outside of B, with the
field lines eventually terminating on some grounded object. If this field is
integrated from B to a ground point, we will get a positive figure, which, by
definition, is the voltage of B. Thus we have an uncharged conductor with a
positive voltage.
Figure 1. Insulated conductor in the field from a charged insulator.
In Figure 2 we have the same situation as in Figure 1, except that now the
conductor is grounded. Consequently the voltage of B is zero. But because B still
has the negative, bound induced charge, we have a negatively charged conductor
with zero voltage. If the ground connection is broken, and B is moved away from
the neighborhood of A (in an insulated way), B will still have its negative charge,
giving B a negative voltage. We describe this process as B having been charged by
induction. Let's illustrate the first part of this scenario with a practical example.
Figure 2. Grounded conductor in the field from a charged insulator.
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Electric Field Intensity (E) and Electric Displacement (D):

The electric field strength at a point is the force experienced by a unit positive
charge placed at that point.

Electric field strength is a vector quantity. Its units are newton/coulomb (or
volts/metre)
The electric field strength is also given by the number of lines of force per unit
area held at right angles with the lines of force.
This is also called the electric flux density
Electric energy and potential:
An object near the surface of the Earth has a potential energy because of its
gravitational interaction with the Earth; potential energy is really not associated
with a single object, it comes from an interaction between objects.
Similarly, there is an electric potential energy associated with interacting
charges. For each pair of interacting charges, the potential energy is given by:
electric potential energy: PE = k q Q / r
Energy is a scalar, not a vector. To find the total electric potential energy
associated with a set of charges, simply add up the energy (which may be positive
or negative) associated with each pair of charges.
An object near the surface of the Earth experiences a nearly uniform
gravitational field with a magnitude of g; its gravitational potential energy is mgh.
A charge in a uniform electric field E has an electric potential energy which
is given by qEd, where d is the distance moved along (or opposite to) the direction
of the field. If the charge moves in the same direction as the force it experiences, it
is losing potential energy; if it moves opposite to the direction of the force, it is
gaining potential energy.
Electric potential is more commonly known as voltage. The potential at a point a
distance r from a charge Q is given by:
V = k Q / r
Potential difference:
If the electric field is not uniform, it is not so simple to calculate the energy
change due to moving a charge in the field.It is therefore useful to define a
quantity which describes the work done in moving unit charge from one point in
the field to another point.We call this quantity the potential difference between the
two points:
V is the symbol for potential difference, which has units of joules per coulomb,
(J.C
-1
).
As this is an important quantity, it is given its own unit, the volt, (V).
"One volt is the potential difference between two points in an electric
field such that one joule of work is done in moving one coulomb of
charge from one point to another."

Potential at a point:
Consider V, the potential difference between two points a and b. It is
incorrect to speak of the potential of one point without reference to another point.
The point b is said to be at a higher potential than the point a if work is done
against electric forces when a positive charge is moved from a to b.

It is however often convenient to consider the potential at a point, and this is
permissible if a common reference point of zero potential is chosen. This point is
taken to be an infinite distance away from the charge producing the field.
The potential at a point can be defined as the work required to move one coulomb
of charge from infinity to that point.
Equi-potential surfaces:
An equipotential surface is a surface on which the potential, or voltage, is
constant. Electric field lines are always perpendicular to these surfaces, and the
electric field points from surfaces of high potential to surfaces of low potential.
Suppose, for example, that a set of surfaces has been chosen so that their voltages
are 5V, 4V, 3V, 2V, etc.. Then since the voltage difference between neighboring
sheets is constant ( V) we can estimate the magnitude of the electric field
between surfaces by the formula
where is the perpendicular distance between neighboring surfaces. (This formula
is really just an approximate version of the path-integral definition of the voltage
difference given above.) Note that this means that the electric field is strong where
the equi potential surfaces are close together and weak where they are far apart.
Dielectric strength of a medium:
Of an insulating material, the maximum electric field strength that it can
withstand intrinsically without breaking down, i.e. , without experiencing failure
of its insulating properties.
Note: The theoretical dielectric strength of a material is an intrinsic property of the
bulk material and is not dependent on the configuration of the material or the
electrodes with which the field is applied. 2. For a given configuration of dielectric
material and electrodes, the minimum electric field that produces breakdown.
Note 1: At breakdown, the electric field frees bound electrons, turning the material
into a conductor.
Note 2: The field strength at which breakdown occurs in a given case is dependent
on the respective geometries of the dielectric (insulator) and the electrodes with
which the electric field is applied, as well as the rate of increase at which the
electric field is applied.
Note 3: The electric field strength is usually expressed in volts per meter.