Basic Electrical Theory ATOM AND ITS FORCESThe strength of the attraction or of the repulsion force depends upon two factors: (1) the amountof charge on each object, and (2) the distance between the objects. The greater the charge onthe objects, the greater the electrostatic field. The greater the distance between the objects, theweaker the electrostatic field between them, and vice versa. This leads us to the law ofelectrostatic attraction, commonly referred to as Coulomb’s Law of electrostatic charges, whichstates that the force of electrostatic attraction, or repulsion, is directly proportional to the productof the two charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them asshown in Equation 1-1.(1-1)FKq1q2d2whereF = force of electrostatic attraction or prepulsion (Newtons)K = constant of proportionality (Coulomb2/N-m2)q1= charge of first particle (Coulombs)q2= charge of second particle (Coulombs)d = distance between two particles (Meters)If q1 and q2 are both eitherFigure 7 Potential Difference Between Two Charged Objectspositively or negativelycharged, the force is repulsive.If q1 and q2 are oppositepolarity or charge, the force isattractive.PotentialDifferencePotential difference is the termused to describe how large theelectrostatic force is betweentwo charged objects. If acharged body is placedbetween two objects with apotential difference, thecharged body will try to movein one direction, dependingupon the polarity of the object. If an electron is placed between a negatively-charged body anda positively-charged body, the action due to the potential difference is to push the electron towardthe positively-charged object. The electron, being negatively charged, will be repelled from thenegatively-charged object and attracted by the positively-charged object, as shown in Figure 7.Rev. 0 Page 5 ES-01
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