ELECTROSTATICS

ELECTROSTATICS
The first descrition of static electricity was by a greek sage named Thales of Miletus a philosopher who believed that all nature had developed from one source in the sixth century. If a pen is rubber with hair or fur it gains an electrostatic power to attract ligther bodies such as paper or a tin foil Thales of Miletus believed back then that objects like this had souls, Electrostatics as the name implies is the study of energy at rest
TERMINOLOGIES
EQUIPOTENTIAL
In a conductor they can be no potential diffrences because if they was it would set up an electric field lets take the earth for instance it must have the same potential all over in that it is a conductor, electrons redistribute them selves around a conductor under the influence of a field until the field has been entirely destroyed regardless of whether the conductor has a net charge or whether it is uncharged. Lines or surfaces drawn so that all point are at the same potential are called equipotential surfaces or lines, these ussually don’t require any work done to move charge from one point to another and ussually has constant electric potential
ELECTRONIC POTENTIAL
Electric potential at any point is equal to the workdone in bringing unit charge from infinty to the point against against the force due to intensity, for instance if electric potential is between x and y then the electric potential difference between A and B is the work done in moving aa unit positive charge from point x and y in air which is independent of of the path taken between x and y but only depends on the position of x and y and this is the reason behind electric potential being a conservative and scalar quantity
ELECTRIC FIELD
An electric field is a field or a region where electric force is found or experienced, electric field an be indicated by electrostatic lines of force which mark a path the path along along which free positive charges would move in the field Arrows on the lines of force show the direction of the force on a positive charge; the force on a negative charge is in the opposite direction. The force exerted on a charged body in an electric field depends on the charge of the body and on the intensity or strength of the field. The intensity E of an electrostatic field at any point is defined as the force per unit charge which it exerts at that point.
APPLICATIONS OF ELECTROSTATICS
• AIR CLEANING
• XEROGRAPHY
• SMOKE PRECIPITORS
• ELECTROSTATIC PAINTING