| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| attractive force | The electrostatic force exerted between two objects with opposite charges, pulling them together. |
| charge | A fundamental property of matter that can be positive or negative, determining how objects interact electromagnetically. |
| charge carrier | Particles that carry electric charge through a medium, such as electrons in a wire. |
| conductor | A material through which electric charge can move, with resistivity that typically increases with temperature. |
| contact forces | Nonfundamental forces such as normal force, friction, and tension that result from the combined effect of many electric interactions between particles. |
| Coulomb's law | The law stating that the electrostatic force between two charged objects is directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. |
| electric field | A vector quantity that represents the electric force per unit charge exerted at a given point in space, originating from charged objects. |
| electric force | The force exerted on a charged object by an electric field. |
| electric permittivity | A measurement of the degree to which a material or medium is polarized in the presence of an electric field. |
| electric polarization | The induced rearrangement of electrons by an external electric field, resulting in a separation of positive and negative charges within a material or medium. |
| electrically neutral | A state in which an object or system has equal amounts of positive and negative charge, resulting in no net electric charge. |
| electrostatic force | The force exerted between charged objects due to their electric charges, described by Coulomb's law and dependent on the magnitude and signs of the charges. |
| elementary charge | The magnitude of charge carried by a single electron or proton, denoted as e, representing the smallest indivisible amount of charge. |
| free space | A vacuum or empty space with a constant value of electric permittivity denoted as ε₀. |
| gravitational force | Forces that result from the mass of objects and are always attractive in nature. |
| insulator | Materials that do not allow electric charge to move freely and can retain charge in localized regions. |
| point charge | An idealized model of a charged object treated as having all its charge concentrated at a single location in space. |
| repulsive force | The electrostatic force exerted between two objects with charges of the same sign, pushing them apart. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| charge distribution | The spatial arrangement or pattern of electric charges within a system or on an object. |
| conservation of charge | The principle that the total electric charge in an isolated system remains constant over time. |
| contact | A process by which charge can be transferred between two systems through direct touching. |
| electron | Negatively charged particles that serve as the primary charge carriers in most common electrical circuits. |
| electrostatic force | The force exerted between charged objects due to their electric charges, described by Coulomb's law and dependent on the magnitude and signs of the charges. |
| friction | A process by which charge can be transferred between two systems through rubbing or contact. |
| grounding | The process of electrically connecting a charged system to a much larger neutral system, such as Earth, to neutralize its charge. |
| induced charge separation | The redistribution of charges within a neutral or charged system caused by the electrostatic force from a nearby charged object, resulting in polarization. |
| net charge | The total amount of electric charge in a system, calculated as the sum of all positive and negative charges. |
| polarization | The process by which charges within a neutral system become separated, with positive charges shifting in one direction and negative charges in another. |
| transfer of charge | The movement of electric charge from one system to another, typically involving the movement of electrons. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| charged conductors | Materials that allow electric charge to move freely throughout them and can be given a net electric charge. |
| charged object | An object that possesses electric charge and can interact with electric and magnetic fields. |
| electric field | A vector quantity that represents the electric force per unit charge exerted at a given point in space, originating from charged objects. |
| electric field line diagrams | Simplified models of electric field maps that use lines to represent the direction and relative magnitude of the electric field. |
| electric force | The force exerted on a charged object by an electric field. |
| electrostatic equilibrium | A state in which charges are at rest and there is no net motion of charge within a conductor or insulator. |
| excess charge | The net charge on an object beyond its neutral state. |
| insulator | Materials that do not allow electric charge to move freely and can retain charge in localized regions. |
| negative charge | A charge toward which electric field lines converge. |
| net electric field | The vector sum of individual electric fields created by multiple charged objects at a given location. |
| perpendicular to the surface | The orientation of the electric field at the surface of a charged conductor, pointing directly away from or toward the surface at a 90-degree angle. |
| point charge | An idealized model of a charged object treated as having all its charge concentrated at a single location in space. |
| positive charge | A charge from which electric field lines radiate outward. |
| spherically symmetric charge distribution | A charge arrangement that is uniform in all directions from a central point, such as on a sphere. |
| surface charge distribution | The arrangement of electric charge on the outer surface of a conductor in electrostatic equilibrium. |
| test charge | A point charge of small enough magnitude that its presence does not significantly affect the electric field it is used to measure. |
| vector field map | A visual representation showing vectors at various points in space to illustrate the magnitude and direction of a field quantity. |
| vector quantity | A physical quantity that has both magnitude and direction. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| conductor | A material through which electric charge can move, with resistivity that typically increases with temperature. |
| configuration of charged objects | An arrangement of multiple charged particles or objects whose combined electric potential can be determined. |
| electric field | A vector quantity that represents the electric force per unit charge exerted at a given point in space, originating from charged objects. |
| electric field vector map | A representation of an electric field using vectors to show the magnitude and direction of the field at various points in space. |
| electric potential | A scalar quantity that represents the electric potential energy per unit charge at a point in space, measured in volts. |
| electric potential difference | The difference in electric potential energy per unit charge between two points in a circuit, measured in volts; also called voltage. |
| electrical contact | A physical connection between conductors that allows charge redistribution. |
| equipotential line | Lines in space that connect points of equal electric potential; also called isolines of electric potential. |
| isoline | Lines that connect points of equal value of a quantity; in this context, lines of equal electric potential. |
| isoline map | A representation of a field using lines that connect points of equal potential or other equal values. |
| point charge | An idealized model of a charged object treated as having all its charge concentrated at a single location in space. |
| scalar superposition | The principle that the total electric potential at a point due to multiple point charges is the sum of the potentials due to each individual charge. |
| test charge | A point charge of small enough magnitude that its presence does not significantly affect the electric field it is used to measure. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| capacitance | A measure of the ability of a capacitor to store charge, defined as the ratio of the magnitude of charge stored on each plate to the electric potential difference between them. |
| charge | A fundamental property of matter that can be positive or negative, determining how objects interact electromagnetically. |
| constant acceleration | Motion in which the velocity changes at a constant rate, as experienced by a charged particle between oppositely charged parallel plates. |
| dielectric | An insulating material placed between the plates of a capacitor that can be polarized by an electric field and increases the capacitance. |
| dielectric constant | A dimensionless property of a material that describes how effectively it can be polarized by an electric field; represented by the symbol κ. |
| electric field | A vector quantity that represents the electric force per unit charge exerted at a given point in space, originating from charged objects. |
| electric permittivity of free space | A fundamental physical constant that describes the ability of empty space to support an electric field; represented by the symbol ε₀. |
| electric potential difference | The difference in electric potential energy per unit charge between two points in a circuit, measured in volts; also called voltage. |
| electric potential energy | The energy stored in a system due to the position of a charged object in an electric field, dependent on the charge and electric potential. |
| parallel-plate capacitor | A capacitor consisting of two separated parallel conducting surfaces that hold equal amounts of charge with opposite signs. |
| plate area | The surface area of one of the conducting plates in a parallel-plate capacitor. |
| plate separation | The distance between the two parallel conducting plates in a capacitor. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| charged object | An object that possesses electric charge and can interact with electric and magnetic fields. |
| conservation of energy | The principle that the total energy in an isolated system remains constant, with energy transforming between different forms but not being created or destroyed. |
| electric potential | A scalar quantity that represents the electric potential energy per unit charge at a point in space, measured in volts. |
| electric potential energy | The energy stored in a system due to the position of a charged object in an electric field, dependent on the charge and electric potential. |
| kinetic energy | The energy of motion possessed by an object due to its velocity. |