Contents

1 Fundamental concepts

1.1 Coulomb's law

1.2 Electric field

1.3 Gauss's law

1.4 Poisson's equation

1.5 Laplace's equation

2 Electrostatic approximation

2.1 Electrostatic potential

3 Electrostatic energy

4 Triboelectric series

5 Electrostatic generators

6 Charge neutralization

Electrostatics
Electrostatics is the branch of physics that deals with the phenomena and
properties of stationary or slow-moving (without acceleration) electric charges.
It is the branch of physics which deals with the study of charges at rest.
Since classical antiquity, it has been known that some materials such
as amber attract

lightweight particles

after rubbing. The Greek word

for

amber, electron, was the source of the word 'electricity'. Electrostatic

phenomena arise from the forces that electric charges exert on each other. Such
forces are described by Coulomb's law. Even though electrostatically induced
forces seem to be rather weak, the electrostatic force between e.g.
an electron and a proton, that together make up a hydrogen atom, is about
40 orders of magnitude stronger than the gravitational force acting between
them.
Electrostatic phenomena include many examples, some as simple as the
attraction of the plastic wrap to your hand after you remove it from a package,
to the apparently spontaneous explosion of grain silos, to damage of electronic
components during manufacturing, to the operation of photocopiers.
Electrostatics involves the buildup of charge on the surface of objects due to
contact with other surfaces. Although charge exchangehappens whenever any
two surfaces contact and separate, the effects of charge exchange are usually
only noticed when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical
flow. This is because the charges that transfer to or from the highly resistive
surface are more or less trapped there for a long enough time for their effects to
be observed. These charges then remain on the object until they either bleed off

to ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge: e.g., the familiar

phenomenon of a static 'shock' is caused by the neutralization of charge built up
in the body from contact with nonconductive surfaces.

Fundamental concepts
Coulomb's law
The fundamental equation of electrostatics is Coulomb's law, which describes
the force between two point charges. The magnitude of the electrostatic force
between two point electric charges

and

is directly proportional to the

product of the magnitudes of each charge and inversely proportional to the

surface area of a sphere whose radius is equal to the distance between the
charges:

where 0 is a constant called the vacuum permittivity or permittivity of free

space, a defined value:
in A2s4 kg1

m3 or C2N1m2 or F m1.

Coulomb's law or Coulomb's inverse-square law is a law of physics describing

the electrostatic interaction between electrically charged particles. It was first
published in 1785 by French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb and was
essential to the development of the theory of electromagnetism. Coulomb's law
has been tested heavily and all observations are consistent with the law.

Charles Augustin de Coulomb

The law

Diagram describing the basic mechanism of Coulomb's law. Like charges repel each other, opposite
charges attract each other.

The scalar form of Coulomb's law is an expression for the magnitude and sign
of the electrostatic force between two idealized point charges, small in size
compared to their separation. This force (F) acting simultaneously on point
charges (q1) and (q2), is given by

where r is the separation distance and ke is a proportionality constant. A positive

force implies it is repulsive, while a negative force implies it is attractive. [7] The
proportionality constant ke, called the Coulomb constant (sometimes called the
Coulomb force constant), is related to defined properties of space and can be
calculated based on the speed of light to be exactly: [8]

Coulomb's torsion balance

Coulomb's law states that: "The magnitude of the Electrostatics force of

interaction between two point charges is directly proportional to the scalar
multiplication of the magnitudes of charges and inversely proportional to the
square of the distances between them."

In SI units,

the

meter

is

defined

vacuum (or electromagnetic

exactly299,792,458 m s1,

waves,
and

such
in

the vacuum

that

the speed
general),

of

light

in

denoted c0, is

permeability (0)

is

set

at 4107H m1. In agreement with electromagnetic theory, requiring that

the value for the vacuum permitivity (0) is derived to be 0 = 1/(0c02)

8.854187821012 Fm1. In electrostatic units andGaussian units, the unit
charge (esu or statcoulomb) is defined in such a way that the Coulomb constant
is 1 and dimensionless.
Electric field
It follows from the Coulomb's Law that the magnitude of the electric field (E)
created by a single point charge (q) at a certain distance (r) is given by:
.
For a positive charge, the direction of the electric field points along lines
directed radially away from the location of the point charge, while the direction
is the opposite for a negative charge. The SI units of electric field are volts per
meter, newtons per coulomb or teslas meters per second.

Vector form
In order to obtain both the magnitude and direction of the force on a charge,
at position
position

, experiencing a field due to the presence of another charge, q2 at

, the full vectorform of Coulomb's law is required.

where is the separation of the two charges. This is simply the scalar definition
of Coulomb's law with the direction given by the unit vector,
with the line from charge

tocharge

, parallel

If both charges have the same sign (like charges) then the product
positive and the direction of the force on

is given by

; the charges repel

each other. If the charges have opposite signs then the product
and the direction of the force on

is given by

is

is negative

; the charges attract each

other.
System of discrete charges
The principle of linear superposition may be used to calculate the force on a
small test charge, , due to a system of

where

and

are the magnitude and position respectively of the

is a unit vector in the direction of

charges

discrete charges:

charge,

(a vector pointing from

to ).

Continuous charge distribution

For a charge distribution an integral over the region containing the charge is
equivalent to an infinite summation, treating each infinitesimal element of space
as a point charge

For a linear charge distribution (a good approximation for charge in a wire)

where

gives the charge per unit length at position

infinitesimal element of length,

.

, and

is an

For a surface charge distribution (a good approximation for charge on a plate in

a parallel plate capacitor) where
position

, and

gives the charge per unit area at

is an infinitesimal element of area,

For a volume charge distribution (such as charge within a bulk metal)

where

gives the charge per unit volume at position

, and

is an

infinitesimal element of volume,

The force on a small test charge

at position

is given by

Graphical representation
Below is a graphical representation of Coulomb's law, when
vector
by

is the force experienced by

. The vector

is the force experienced

. Their magnitudes will always be equal. The vector

vector between two charges (

and

A graphical representation of Coulomb's law.

).

. The

is the displacement

Table of derived quantities

At/on 1 by 2
Vector

Particle property

Relationship

Field property

Force

Electric field

Electric energy

Electric potential

quantity
Relationshi
p
Scalar
quantity

Electric field
The electric field (in units of volts per meter) at a point is defined as the force
(in newtons) per unit charge (in coulombs) on a charge at that point:

Or we can say a charged object in an electric field feels a force F=qE

From this definition and Coulomb's law, it follows that the magnitude of the
electric field E created by a test charge Q is:

The electric field produced by a distribution of charges given by the

volume charge density

is obtained by a triple integral of a vector function:

The value of the electric field depicts the force on a charged particle if it entered
the electric field. Electric field lines gives the direction of force on a positive
charge in the electric field.
Gauss's law
Gauss' law states that "the total electric flux through any closed hypothetical
surface of any shape drawn in an electric field is proportional to the total electric
charge enclosed within the surface".
Mathematically, Gauss's law takes the form of an integral equation:

Alternatively, in differential form, the equation becomes

where

is the divergence operator.

In physics, Gauss's law, also known as Gauss's flux theorem, is a law relating
the distribution of electric charge to the resulting electric field.
The law was formulated by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1835, but was not published
until 1867. It is one of the four Maxwell's equations which form the basis
of classical

electrodynamics,

the

other

three

being Gauss's

law

for

magnetism, Faraday's law of induction, and Ampre's law with Maxwell's

correction. Gauss's law can be used to derive Coulomb's law, and vice versa.

Equation involving E-field

Gauss's law can be stated using either the electric field E or the electric
displacement field D. This section shows some of the forms with E; the form
with D is below, as are other forms withE.
Integral form
Gauss's law may be expressed as:

where E is the electric flux through a closed surface S enclosing any

volume V, Q is the total charge enclosed within S, and 0 is the electric constant.
The electric flux E is defined as asurface integral of the electric field:

where E is the electric field, dA is a vector representing an infinitesimal element

of area, and represents the dot product of two vectors.
Since the flux is defined as an integral of the electric field, this expression of
Gauss's law is called the integral form.
where E is the divergence of the electric field, and is the total electric charge
density.
.

Equation involving D-field

Free, bound, and total charge
The electric charge that arises in the simplest textbook situations would be
classified as "free charge"for example, the charge which is transferred
in static electricity, or the charge on acapacitor plate. In contrast, "bound

charge" arises only in the context of dielectric (polarizable) materials. (All

materials are polarizable to some extent.) When such materials are placed in an
external electric field, the electrons remain bound to their respective atoms, but
shift a microscopic distance in response to the field, so that they're more on one
side of the atom than the other. All these microscopic displacements add up to
give a macroscopic net charge distribution, and this constitutes the "bound
charge".
Although microscopically, all charge is fundamentally the same, there are often
practical reasons for wanting to treat bound charge differently from free charge.
The result is that the more "fundamental" Gauss's law, in terms of E (above), is
sometimes put into the equivalent form below, which is in terms of D and the
free charge only.
Integral form
This formulation of Gauss's law states analogously to the total charge form:
where D is the D-field flux through a surface S which encloses a volume V,
and Qfree is the free charge contained in V. The flux D is defined analogously to
the flux E of the electric fieldE through S:

Differential form
The differential form of Gauss's law, involving free charge only, states:
where D is the divergence of the electric displacement field, and free is the
free electric charge density.

Poisson's equation
The definition of electrostatic potential, combined with the differential form of
Gauss's law (above), provides a relationship between the potential and the
charge density :

This relationship is a form of Poisson's equation.

Laplace's equation
In the absence of unpaired electric charge, the equation becomes
which is Laplace's equation.
Electrostatic potential

The electrostatic field (lines with arrows) of a nearby positive charge (+)causes the mobile charges in
conductive objects to separate due toelectrostatic induction. Negative charges (blue) are attracted and
move to the surface of the object facing the external charge. Positive charges (red) are repelled and
move to the surface facing away. These induced surface charges are exactly the right size and shape

so their opposing electric field cancels the electric field of the external charge throughout the interior
of the metal. Therefore the electrostatic field everywhere inside a conductive object is zero, and
the electrostatic potential is constant.

Because the electric field is irrotational, it is possible to express the electric field
as the gradient of a scalar function, called the electrostatic potential (also known
as the voltage). An electric field,

, points from regions of high potential, , to

regions of low potential, expressed mathematically as

The electrostatic potential at a point can be defined as the amount of work per
unit charge required to move a charge from infinity to the given point.
In classical electromagnetism, the electric potential (a scalar quantity denoted
by , E or V and also called the electric field potential or the electrostatic
potential) at a point is equal to the electric potential energy (measured in joules)
of a charged particle at that location divided by the charge (measured
in coulombs) of the particle. The electric potential is independent of the test
particle's charge - it is determined by the electric field alone. The electric
potential can be calculated at a point in either a static (time-invariant) electric
field or in a dynamic (varying with time) electric field at a specific time, and has
the units of joules per coulomb, or volts.
There

is

also

generalized

electric scalar

potential that

is

used

in electrodynamics when time-varying electromagnetic fields are present. This

generalized electric potential cannot be simply interpreted as the ratio of
potential energy to charge, however.
Objects may possess a property known as an electric charge. An electric field
exerts a force on charged objects, accelerating them in the direction of the force,

in either the same or the opposite direction of the electric field. If the charged
object has a positive charge, the force and acceleration will be in the direction of
the field. This force has the same direction as the electric field vector, and its
magnitude is given by the size of the charge multiplied with the magnitude of
the

electric

field. Classical

mechanics explores

the

concepts

such

as force, energy, potential etc. The electric potential (or potential) at a point in
an electric field is defined as the work done in moving a unit positive charge
from infinity to that point.
The electric potential and the magnetic vector potential together form a four
vector, so that the two kinds of potential are mixed under Lorentz
transformations.

In electrostatics
The electric potential at a point r in a static electric field E is given by the line
integral

where C is an arbitrary path connecting the point with zero potential to r. When
the curl E is zero, the line integral above does not depend on the specific
path C chosen but only on its endpoints. In this case, the electric field
is conservative and determined by the gradient of the potential:
Then, by Gauss's law, the potential satisfies Poisson's equation:
where is the total charge density (including bound charge) and denotes
the divergence.

The concept of electric potential is closely linked with potential energy. A test
charge q has an electric potential energy UE given by
The potential energy and hence also the electric potential is only defined up to
an additive constant: one must arbitrarily choose a position where the potential
energy and the electric potential are zero.
These equations cannot be used if the curl E 0, i.e., in the case of
a nonconservative electric field (caused by a changing magnetic field;
see Maxwell's equations). The generalization of electric potential to this case is
described below.
Electric potential due to a point charge
The electric potential created by a point charge Q, at a distance r from the
charge (relative to the potential at infinity), can be shown to be

where 0 is the electric constant (permittivity of free space). This is known as the
Coulomb Potential.
The electric potential due to a system of point charges is equal to the sum of the
point charges' individual potentials. This fact simplifies calculations
significantly, since addition of potential (scalar) fields is much easier than
addition of the electric (vector) fields.
The equation given above for the electric potential (and all the equations used
here) are in the forms required by SI units. In some other (less common)
systems of units, such as CGS-Gaussian, many of these equations would be
altered.

Note that this definition of V depends on the gauge choice for the vector
potential A (the gradient of any scalar field can be added to A without
changing B). One choice is the Coulomb gauge, in which we choose A = 0.
In this case, we obtain
where is the charge density, just as for electrostatics. Another common choice
is the Lorenz gauge, in which we choose A to satisfy

Units
The SI unit of electric potential is the volt (in honor of Alessandro Volta), which
is why electric potential is also known as voltage. Older units are rarely used
nowadays. Variants of thecentimeter gram second system of units included a
number of different units for electric potential, including the abvolt and
the statvolt.

Electrostatic energy
Energy

due

to

charge

integral:

distribution

is

obtained

by

triple

in which V represents the volume of charge

distribution.

Electrostatic generators
The presence of surface charge imbalance means that the objects will exhibit
attractive or repulsive forces. This surface charge imbalance, which yields static
electricity, can be generated by touching two differing surfaces together and
then separating them due to the phenomena of contact electrification and

the triboelectric effect. Rubbing two nonconductive objects generates a great

amount of static electricity. This is not just the result of friction; two
nonconductive surfaces can become charged by just being placed one on top of
the other. Since most surfaces have a rough texture, it takes longer to achieve
charging through contact than through rubbing. Rubbing objects together
increases

amount

of

adhesive

contact

between

the

two

surfaces.

Usuallyinsulators, e.g., substances that do not conduct electricity, are good at

both generating, and holding, a surface charge. Some examples of these
substances are rubber, plastic, glass, and pith.Conductive objects only rarely
generate charge imbalance except, for example, when a metal surface is
impacted by solid or liquid nonconductors. The charge that is transferred during
contact electrification is stored on the surface of each object. Static electric
generators, devices which produce very high voltage at very low current and
used for classroom physics demonstrations, rely on this effect.
Note that the presence of electric current does not detract from the electrostatic
forces nor from the sparking, from the corona discharge, or other phenomena.
Both phenomena can exist simultaneously in the same system.
.

Charge neutralization
Natural electrostatic phenomena are most familiar as an occasional annoyance
in seasons of low humidity, but can be destructive and harmful in some
situations (e.g. electronics manufacturing). When working in direct contact with
integrated circuit electronics (especially delicate MOSFETs), or in the presence
of flammable gas, care must be taken to avoid accumulating and suddenly
discharging a static charge (see electrostatic discharge).

Charge induction
Charge induction occurs when a negatively charged object repels electrons from
the surface of a second object. This creates a region in the second object that is
more positively charged. An attractive force is then exerted between the objects.
For example, when a balloon is rubbed, the balloon will stick to the wall as an
attractive force is exerted by two oppositely charged surfaces (the surface of the
wall gains an electric charge due to charge induction, as the free electrons at the
surface of the wall are repelled by the negative balloon, creating a positive wall
surface, which is subsequently attracted to the surface of the balloon). You can
explore the effect with a simulation of the balloon and static electricity.charge
induction mean when a charged body is brought nearer to another uncharged
body(metallic or non conduction),then front face of the uncharged body is seen
to be oppositely charge this shows attraction and the phenomenon is called
electrostatics. NOTE-Two similar charge body can attract each other when one
body have large amount of charge and another have small amount of charge by
the induction.its also hapeen in insulator.

Electrostatic induction
Electrostatic induction is a redistribution of electrical charge in an object,
caused by the influence of nearby charges. Induction was discovered by British
scientist John Canton in 1753 and Swedish professor Johan Carl Wilcke in
1762. Electrostatic generators, such as the Wimshurst machine, the Van de
Graaff generator and the electrophorus, use this principle. Induction is also
responsible for the attraction of light nonconductive objects, such as balloons,
paper or styrofoam scraps, to static electric charges. Electrostatic induction
should not be confused with electromagnetic induction.

Explanation

Demonstration of induction, in 1870s. The positive terminal of an electrostatic

machine is placed near the brass cylinder, causing the left side to acquire a
positive charge and the right to acquire a negative charge. The small pith ball
electroscopes hanging from the bottom show that the charge is concentrated at
the ends.

Charging an object by induction

Gold-leaf electroscope, showing induction, before the terminal is grounded.

However, the induction effect can also be used to put a net charge on an object.
If, while it is close to the positive charge, the above object is momentarily
connected through a conductive path to electrical ground, which is a large
reservoir of both positive and negative charges, some of the negative charges in

the ground will flow into the object, under the attraction of the nearby positive
charge. When the contact with ground is broken, the object is left with a net
negative charge.
This method can be demonstrated using a gold-leaf electroscope, which is an
instrument for detecting electric charge. The electroscope is first discharged, and
a charged object is then brought close to the instrument's top terminal. Induction
causes a redistribution of the charges inside the electroscope's metal rod, so that
the top terminal gains a net charge of opposite polarity to that of the object,
while the gold leaves gain a charge of the same polarity. Since both leaves have
the same charge, they repel each other and spread apart. The electroscope has
not acquired a net charge: the charge within it has merely been redistributed, so
if the charge were to be moved away from the electroscope the leaves will come
together again.

The electrostatic field inside a conductive object is zero

Surface charges induced in metal objects by a nearby charge. The electrostatic

field (lines with arrows) of a nearby positive charge (+) causes the mobile
charges in metal objects to separate. Negative charges (blue) are attracted and
move to the surface of the object facing the external charge. Positive

charges (red) are repelled and move to the surface facing away. These induced
surface charges create an opposing electric field that exactly cancels the field of
the external charge throughout the interior of the metal. Therefore electrostatic
induction ensures that the electric field everywhere inside a conductive object is
zero.

A remaining question is how large the induced charges are. The movement of
charge is caused by the force exerted by theelectric field of the external charged
object. As the charges in the metal object continue to separate, the resulting
positive and negative regions create their own electric field, which opposes the
field of the external charge. This process continues until very quickly (within a
fraction of a second) an equilibrium is reached in which the induced charges are
exactly the right size to cancel the external electric field throughout the interior
of the metal object. Then the remaining mobile charges (electrons) in the
interior of the metal no longer feel a force and the net motion of the charges
stops.