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“electrostatics”
All matter is composed of atoms, which in turn are composed of subatomic particles.
- Many of those particles consist of a property called a "charge", which may be positive or negative.
- The most familiar charged particles are "electrons", which possess a negative charge; and protons, that possess a positive charge.
- Electric particles with the same charges repel one another; while particles with the opposite charges attract each other.
- Normally the electrons and protons in an atom are in balance, and the atom has no net charge.
- Charles Coulomb was a French physicist who was famous for his discoveries in the field of electricity and magnetism. He formulated Coulomb's Law (1736-1806), and determined that positive and "negative electric charges" attracted one another and that "like charges repelled" each other with a force which was proportional to the amount of charge and diminished with the square of the distance.
This is called Coulomb's Law in honor of Charles Coulomb, and the electric charge is now measured in units called "coulombs".
- When negative and positive charges are separated, an electrical potential energy is created which is called "voltage" which represents the amount of work it would take to move the charge between two points.
- When separated electric charges can move, they create an electric current and the current is the rate of flow of the "electric charge".
This entry is located in the following unit:
Electrical and Electronic Topics
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