The First Law of Electrostatics

Electrostatic Force

Figure 5 Electrostatic Field Between Two Charges of Opposite Polarity

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Basic Electrical Theory ATOM AND ITS FORCES Without this electrostatic force, the electron, which is traveling at high speed, could not stay in its orbit. Bodies that attract each other in this way are called charged bodies. As mentioned previously, the electron has a negative charge, and the nucleus (due to the proton) has a positive charge. The First Law of Electrostatics The negative charge of the electron is equal, but opposite to, the positive charge of the proton. These charges are referred to as electrostatic charges. In nature, unlike charges (like electrons and protons) attract each other, and like charges repel each other. These facts are known as the First Law of Electrostatics and are sometimes referred to as the law of electrical charges. This law should be remembered because it is one of the vital concepts in electricity. Some atoms can lose electrons and others can gain electrons; thus, it is possible to transfer electrons from one object to another. When this occurs, the equal distribution of negative and positive charges no longer exists. One object will contain an excess of electrons and become negatively charged, and the other will become deficient in electrons and become positively charged. These objects, which can contain billions of atoms, will then follow the same law of electrostatics as the electron and proton example shown above. The electrons that can move around within an object are said to be free electrons and will be discussed in more detail in a later section. The greater the number of these free electrons an object contains, the greater its negative electric charge. Thus, the electric charge can be used as a measure of electrons. Electrostatic Field Figure 4 Electrostatic Field A special force is acting between the charged objects discussed above. Forces of this type are the result of an electrostatic field that exists around each charged particle or object. This electrostatic field, and the force it creates, can be illustrated with lines called "lines of force" as shown in Figure 4. Rev. 0 Page 3 ES-01

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