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Maxwell's equations on a plaque on his statue in Edinburgh. Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, electric and magnetic circuits.
Electrostatics is a branch of physics that studies slow-moving or stationary electric charges. Since classical times , it has been known that some materials, such as amber , attract lightweight particles after rubbing .
The electrostatic force experienced by , according to Newton's third law, is =. If both charges have the same sign (like charges) then the product q 1 q 2 {\displaystyle q_{1}q_{2}} is positive and the direction of the force on q 1 {\displaystyle q_{1}} is given by r ^ 12 {\textstyle {\widehat {\mathbf {r} }}_{12}} ; the charges repel each other.
Continuous charge distribution. The volume charge density ρ is the amount of charge per unit volume (cube), surface charge density σ is amount per unit surface area (circle) with outward unit normal nĚ‚, d is the dipole moment between two point charges, the volume density of these is the polarization density P.
In classical electrostatics, the electrostatic field is a vector quantity expressed as the gradient of the electrostatic potential, which is a scalar quantity denoted by V or occasionally φ, [1] equal to the electric potential energy of any charged particle at any location (measured in joules) divided by the charge of that particle (measured ...
Strictly speaking, Gauss's law cannot be derived from Coulomb's law alone, since Coulomb's law gives the electric field due to an individual, electrostatic point charge only. However, Gauss's law can be proven from Coulomb's law if it is assumed, in addition, that the electric field obeys the superposition principle. The superposition principle ...
where the c ij with i = j are called the coefficients of capacity and the c ij with i ≠ j are called the coefficients of electrostatic induction. [1] For a system of two spherical conductors held at the same potential, [2] = (+), = (+)
ε 0 is the electric constant (a universal constant, also called the permittivity of free space) (ε 0 ≈ 8.854 187 817 × 10 −12 F/m) This relation is known as Gauss's law for electric fields in its integral form and it is one of Maxwell's equations.