Electric Fields

• Static electricity


  Occurs when an insulator gains or loses electrons, becoming negatively or positively charged respectively
• Charged objects

  • Objects carrying opposite charges attract
  • Objects carrying the same type of charge repel
• The forces of attraction and repulsion between charged objects are non-contact forces
• When a person touches a Van de Graaff generator


  Their hair stands on end due to the hairs repelling each other as they become positively charged
• Electric field


  The area around a charged object where a force would be experienced by another charged object
• Representing an electric field

  1. Field lines are drawn perpendicular to the surface of the charged object

  2. The direction of the arrows on the field lines shows the direction of the force on a positive object
• Decreasing the distance between a charged object and another object


  Increases the force experienced between them