Electrostatic force is one of the four fundamental forces in physics. It is the force that is exerted on a particle due to either an electric charge or electric polarization on another particle.
The electrostatic force is described via Coulomb’s law, which states that the force between two charges is proportional to the magnitude of their charges and in opposite directions.
The other three fundamental forces are gravity, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear forces. All of these forces have been experimentally demonstrated and are very well-understood. The gravitational force is what keeps us grounded and keeps the Earth orbiting the Sun; the strong nuclear force keeps atoms intact; and the weak nuclear force transmutes atoms.
Although electrostatic forces are much weaker than all of these other three forces, they play an important role in many physical phenomena. For example, they are very important in chemistry due to atoms having different charges. They also play a role in keeping particles with electric charge in orbit around larger charged particles or keeping plasma intact.
Remember that the direction of the net force is along the z-axis
Electrostatic interactions are described using Coulomb’s law, which states that the net force (F) on a particle is proportional to the product of charges (q) and the distance between them (r):
F = q · r
Where F is the force, q is the charge, and r is the distance between the charges. If you remember your high school physics, this is just the formula for linear momentum.
In our case, we have three particles, so there are three components of Coulomb’s law: one for each particle. We can write these components in a more general way by using a vector notation instead of separate variables for each charge: [1]
[A] x component of [B] y component of [B] z component of net electrostatic force on particle 3 =
(A) x = -y B +z B
In this section, we will discuss the x-component of the net electrostatic force on particle 3. The x-component of the net electrostatic force is defined as the difference between the x-components of the (A) positive and (B) negative forces.
As explained in the previous section, particle 3 has a (A) positive charge, so its (A) x component is equal to -y B +z B , where y and z are the components of particle 3’s position relative to axis B.
Since y and z are both negative, then y B +z B is also negative, so that the (A) x component of particle 3’s force is in an opposite direction as axis B.
Particle 2 has a (B) negative charge, so its (B) x component is equal to -y A +z A , where y and z are particle 2’s coordinates relative to axis A. Since y and z are both positive, then y A +z A is also positive, so that the (B)x-component of particle 2’s force is in an opposite direction as axis A.
(B) y = -x A +z A
In this case, the A component of the net electrostatic force on particle 3 is in the y-direction. This means that if particle 3 is moving in the y-direction, then the net electrostatic force will act to slow it down.
If particle 3 is moving in the x-direction, then the net electrostatic force will act to speed it up. This is because there is a positive x A component of the electric field, which means there is a positive x-directed force on particle 3.
As mentioned before, if all three particles are moving in different directions, then there will be a x B y B component of the net electrostatic force acting on particle 3. In this case, if particle 3 is moving in either the x or y direction, then it will be pushed away from molecule 1 and pulled toward molecule 2.
The net force is along the z-axis
Now, let’s consider particle 3 in Figure 1. The charge on particle 3 is -q, and the charge on particle 2 is +q. Therefore, the net electrostatic force on particle 3 is
|Fnet| = q(|A| – |B|)
where A and B are the magnitude of the x- and y-components of the force acting on particle 3, respectively. The z-component of the net force is zero since all three particles are at rest with respect to each other. So we can write:
The net force is along the z-axis
This statement can be verified by considering a specific case. Suppose that all three particles have z = 0. In this case, only two components of A and B are nonzero: x and y. Thus, only these two components contribute to |A| or |B| in the above equation for |Fnet| . Consequently, only these two components of A and B exert a net force along the z-axis.
The magnitude of the net force is |F| = (B)(A)||(B)|| cos θ = ((-y)(+z))((-x)(+z))cosθ = (-yz +zxzcosθ)
In this case, the sign of the x component of the net electrostatic force is negative, indicating particle 3 is being pulled to the right. The y component of the net electrostatic force is positive, indicating particle 3 is being pulled up.
The magnitude of the z component of the net electrostatic force is zero, indicating particle 3 is not being pulled in any direction that corresponds to z-direction forces.
Thus, particle 3 has a net lateral force of -yz +zxzcosθ, where cosθ = (x/|y|) = (1/√(2+1)) = 0.5 Thus, there is a 50% chance that particle 3 will move to the right or up due to Coulomb forces!|||||‎‎.>‎.>‎.>… >>‎.>>>.
The direction of the net force is along the z-axis
The z-axis represents the direction of the net electrostatic force on particle 3. This is the only axis that has a value, and that value is the total force acting on particle 3 in the direction of the z-axis.
As mentioned before, this force is composed of two components: the x-component and y-component. These components represent how strongly particle 3 is being pushed or pulled in each direction, respectively.
We can write these components as follows:
x-component = A x , y-component = B y
Where A x and B y are known values depending on what kind of particle 3 it is. For example, if particle 3 is a positively charged protium atom, then A x = 1 N m −1 and B y = 1 N m −1 .
Use vector notation for electrostatic potential and charge density vectors{{cite journal |author=McCormick, R.G. |title=Vector Relativity in Electrostatics: Fundamentals and Applications to Nanoionics, Bioelectronics, and Medical Devices |journal=IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering |volume=54 |issue=11 |pages=2380–2390 |year=2007}}
9)a)b)
10)a)b) ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Physics]] [[Category:Electricity]] [[Category:Electromagnetism]] [[Category:Classical physics]] [[Category:Calculus]] __NOTOC__
In physics, vector notation is used to describe quantities. A vector is a directed quantity, such as force, velocity, or potential.
There are three components of a vector that can be described: the (A) x , (B) y , and (C) z components. These components represent the magnitude and direction of each component.
For example, the velocity of an object can be described by its (A) x and (B) y components, which represent how fast it moves in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively.
In electrostatics, the potential field {{cite journal |author=McCormick, R.G. |title=Vector Relativity in Electrostatics: Fundamentals and Applications to Nanoionics, Bioelectronics, and Medical Devices |journal=IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering |volume=54 |issue=11 |pages=2380–2390 |year=2007}}
9)a)b)
10)a)b) can be described by three vectors: an (A) x component vector
11), an (B) y component vector
12), and a z component vector
13). The sum of these three vectors is equal to the potential . ==External links== *[https://en.wikipedia.
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