What are two types of Primary Particles?
Protons
Electrons
What are Protons and Electrons?
Protons are positive in charge, while electrons are negative in charge. Protons and electrons are charged, but the bulk of matter is neutral. This is due to an internal balance within each individual atom. However, the process of ionization can make matter charged by adding or removing electrons. Net charge is based on the difference between electrons to protons; as an electron is removed, the charge goes up by one and vice versa.
What is the charge of an Electron and Proton?
The magnitude of charge of an electron and proton is equal to e, or elementary (basic) charge. The general value of e is as follows:
The SI unit for charge is the coulomb (C). Looking at the relative values of e and C, one can see that a single coulomb is an incredibly large amount of charge.
The charge of an ion must be equivalent to a whole number multiple of e. This means that charge is quantized. The charge of a particle or object is represented by the variable q, which is given in coulombs.
What is Coulomb’s Law?
Electromagnetic force holds atoms together. Like gravitational force, electromagnetic force is also calculated using an “inverse square” law.
In other words, electromagnetic force (F(E)) is represented by the product of the magnitudes of two particles’ charges (q(1)q(2)), divided by the square of the distance between those particles (r^2). This quotient is then multiplied by Coulomb’s constant, k.
There are several important points to consider when dealing with Coulomb’s law. First of all, absolute values must be used in order to avoid any confusion regarding the direction of the electromagnetic force. It is simpler to look at the direction separately from the magnitude. Secondly, the value of k as compared to the value of G, the universal gravitation constant (G=6.67 x 10^-11 Nm^2/kg^2), illustrates the relative strength of the two forces. Electromagnetic force is many times stronger than Gravitational force.
Example:
An electron is placed 3 nanometers away from a proton. What is the magnitude of the electric force?
How to visualize Coulomb’s Law?
The essential idea of Coulomb’s law is analogous with the universal gravitation law. Below is an illustration representing the latter.
As stated above, the visualization of Coulomb’s law is very similar to the universal gravitation law. The only differences are the presence of particles and the downscaling of the study area.
Using Coulomb’s law, it is possible to calculate the magnitude of the electromagnetic force. However, it is also necessary to know the direction, as force is a vector. The rule of thumb in physics is that opposites attract. For example, the force between two positive particles or two negative particles is repulsive, while the force between one positive particle and one negative particle is attractive.
What is the law of Superposition?
Vectors are able to be added to one another, or superimposed. Since electromagnetic force is a vector with both magnitude and direction, this law of superposition is present.
