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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 .
Coulomb's inverse-square law, or simply Coulomb's law, is an experimental law [1] of physics that calculates the amount of force between two electrically charged particles at rest. This electric force is conventionally called the electrostatic force or Coulomb force . [ 2 ]
Aerosol of flammable dust can be ignited as well, resulting in a dust explosion; the lower explosive limit usually lies between 50 and 1000 g/m 3; finer dusts tend to be more explosive and requiring less spark energy to set off. Simultaneous presence of flammable vapors and flammable dust can significantly decrease the ignition energy; a mere 1 ...
The law was first [1] formulated by Joseph-Louis Lagrange in 1773, [2] followed by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1835, [3] both in the context of the attraction of ellipsoids. It is one of Maxwell's equations, which forms the basis of classical electrodynamics. [note 1] Gauss's law can be used to derive Coulomb's law, [4] and vice versa.
A separate law of nature, the Lorentz force law, describes how the electric and magnetic fields act on charged particles and currents. By convention, a version of this law in the original equations by Maxwell is no longer included. The vector calculus formalism below, the work of Oliver Heaviside, [6] [7] has become standard.
The law of conservation of charge always applies, giving the object from which a negative charge is taken a positive charge of the same magnitude, and vice versa. Even when an object's net charge is zero, the charge can be distributed non-uniformly in the object (e.g., due to an external electromagnetic field , or bound polar molecules).
The study of electric fields created by stationary charges is called electrostatics. Faraday's law describes the relationship between a time-varying magnetic field and the electric field. One way of stating Faraday's law is that the curl of the electric field is equal to the negative time derivative of the magnetic field.
In this theory, Coulomb's law becomes velocity and acceleration dependent. Weber electrodynamics is only applicable for electrostatics, magnetostatics and for the quasistatic approximation. Weber electrodynamics is not suitable for describing electromagnetic waves and for calculating the forces between electrically charged particles that move ...