Charges Definition

Electric charge is referred to as the property of a matter that makes the object encounter some force when put in an electric or magnetic field. The continuous movement of electric charges leads to the creation of a magnetic or electric field. When numerous electric fields are combined, an electromagnetic field is formed. There are basically two types of charges, positive charges and negative charges. Positive charges are known as protons, and negative charges are known as electrons. When the charge is zero, it is known as neutrons. Electric charges are the scalar quantity. No doubt electric charges hold both magnitude and direction. Still, since the charges can not follow the triangle law of vector addition and parallelogram law of vector addition, they are not expressed as a vector quantity. A negative charge of an object indicates more amount of electrons over protons but a positive charge over an object indicates more protons than electrons. Coulomb is referred to as the standard unit in which electric charges are measured.

Q = I x T,

where Q is the electric charge,

I is the electric current, and

T refers to the time

Properties of electric charges

There are some various properties of electric charges which are stated as follows:

1. Additivity of electric charges- Let's say the magnitude is Q1, Q2, and Q3 of certain three points of charges. These charges have magnitude and lack direction. Therefore, according to this property, the total charge of the system can be acquired by the addition of these three charges.
2. Conservation of electric charges- This property of electric charges states that charges can neither be created nor destroyed. Still, all we can do is transfer from one object to another.
3. Quantization of electric charges- This property of electric charges states that all the unrestrained charges are the integral multiples of an earlier predefined unit (often denoted by e).

Coulomb's law

According to coulomb's law, there are two point charges, the repulsion between them or the electrostatic force between them and the product of the magnitude of charges is directly proportional and is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. It is used to obtain the amount of force between two given points.

Methods of charging

Charging is the process when an object loses its electric charges. It is basically done to charge a new or uncharged object. Charging is done in three ways:

1. Charging by friction- Charging by friction is done when two objects are rubbed against each other. When these two objects are rubbed then, the result is that one of them loses the electrons while the other gains the electron. That one object which loses the electrons obtains positive charges, and the other object which gains the electrons obtains negative charges. Charges enter both objects because of friction, and therefore, this method of charging the objects by friction is basically called electrification by friction.
2. Charging by conduction- Charging by conduction is done when an uncharged object is brought near charged object. Protons and electrons present in a charged conductor are not equal. Therefore we bring an uncharged conductor near it so that it can discharge electrons and balance itself.
3. Charging by induction- When we bring charged conductor near an uncharged conductor in the absence of any physical contact is known as charging by induction.

Static electricity

When two objects or things are brought near each other that are not at equilibrium, the related electric charge and electrostatic charge are referred to as static electricity. The electrostatic charge initiates the shifts in the charges between the two objects.

Electrification by friction

1. Bring a piece of glass and a piece of resin near each other.
2. These two objects do not show any electrical properties and not even when rubbed against each other.
3. The objects attract each other when diverged.
4. Now repeat the experiment with another piece of resin.

This experiment will derive the following results:

1. The two pieces of glass repel each other.
2. Also, the two pieces of resin repel each other.
3. When brought together, the piece of glass and resin attract each other.

This experiment is often done to explain the concept of electrification. This concept of attraction and repulsion is considered to be one of the electric phenomena, and the bodies are said to be electrified.

Current electricity

The flow of electric charges through an object is referred to as electric current. The moving particles in an electric current are known as a charge.

These charge carriers depend on the conductor to a conductor like charge carriers moving through a wire are electrons and holes in semiconductors, ions in electrolytes and in the form of gas and plasma. The standard unit of electric current is known as an ampere, which is measured by a device known as an ammeter. There are two types of electric current:

Direct current- When the direction of the current electricity stays constant, then it is called direct current. In this current flow of electric current is from high electron density to low electron density, and the current remains the same throughout. Direct current is often abbreviated as DC and is very much involved while using household appliances or machines.

Alternating current- The current electricity in which the direction of the flow of charges keeps on changing is referred to as alternating current. Alternating current is abbreviated as AC and is often used to supply the current in electrical outlets in homes and industries. The alternating current electricity is bidirectional.

Difference between static electricity and current electricity

1. Electricity built on the surface of the object is known as static electricity, whereas electricity generated through the flow of electrons is known as current electricity.
2. When negative charges move from one substance to another, static energy is created, but current electricity is created due to the movement of electrons.
3. Static electricity occurs in both the conductor and insulator, whereas current electricity occurs only in the conductor.
4. Static electricity does not create any magnetic field, but current electricity creates it.
5. Static electricity is measured using a gold leaf electroscope, and current electricity is measured using analogue and digital meters.
6. Static electricity remains for a short period of time, whereas current electricity pertains for a larger period of time.