CONCEPTS: Electric charge (unit and types of charge) Electrification by contact (charging by rubbing together dissimilar materials) Electrification by induction
Distribution of charge on conductors (charge resides on outside of a metal object and tends to accumulate at points)
Point discharge Electroscope (structure) Coulomb’s law (inverse square law, forces between collinear charges) Vector nature of electric fields (electric field lines/lines of force) Definition of electric field strength
ACTIVITIES: Demonstration of forces between charges Demonstration of electrification by induction Use of a Van de Graaff generator Demonstration of field patterns (oil and semolina)
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY: Domestic applications (dust on TV screen, static on clothes) Industrial hazards (flour mills, fuelling aircraft) Lightning and lightning conductors Uses of a gold leaf electroscope Precipitators Xerography (photocopiers and laser printers) Hazards: effect of electric fields on integrated circuits
PHYSICAL QUANTITIES INTRODUCED IN THIS CHAPTER: Quantity charge
permittivity
permittivity of a vacuum relative permittivity electric field strength