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The force acting on a point charge due to a system of point charges is simply the vector addition of the individual forces acting alone on that point charge due to each one of the charges. The resulting force vector is parallel to the electric field vector at that point, with that point charge removed. Force on a small charge at position , due ...
Since an electric field exerts force on a charged object, if the object has a positive charge, the force will be in the direction of the electric field vector at the location of the charge; if the charge is negative, the force will be in the opposite direction. The magnitude of force is given by the quantity of the charge multiplied by the ...
The electric charge of a macroscopic object is the sum of the electric charges of the particles that it is made up of. This charge is often small, because matter is made of atoms , and atoms typically have equal numbers of protons and electrons , in which case their charges cancel out, yielding a net charge of zero, thus making the atom neutral.
The electric field was formally defined as the force exerted per unit charge, but the concept of potential allows for a more useful and equivalent definition: the electric field is the local gradient of the electric potential. Usually expressed in volts per metre, the vector direction of the field is the line of greatest slope of potential, and ...
The forces due to gravity and viscosity could be calculated based on the size and velocity of the oil drop, so electric force could be deduced. Since electric force, in turn, is the product of the electric charge and the known electric field, the electric charge of the oil drop could be accurately computed. By measuring the charges of many ...
The work per unit of charge is defined by moving a negligible test charge between two points, and is expressed as the difference in electric potential at those points. The work can be done, for example, by electrochemical devices ( electrochemical cells ) or different metals junctions [ clarification needed ] generating an electromotive force .
By definition, the change in electrostatic potential energy, U E, of a point charge q that has moved from the reference position r ref to position r in the presence of an electric field E is the negative of the work done by the electrostatic force to bring it from the reference position r ref to that position r.
Related to the Faraday constant is the "faraday", a unit of electrical charge. Its use is much less common than of the coulomb, but is sometimes used in electrochemistry. [4] One faraday of charge is the charge of one mole of elementary charges (or of negative one mole of electrons), that is, 1 faraday = F × 1 mol = 9.648 533 212 331 001 84 × ...