A special force is acting between the charged objects discussed above. Forces of this type are the result of an electrostatic field that exists around each charged particle or object. This electrostatic field, and the force it creates, can be illustrated with lines called "lines of force" as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 Electrostatic Field

Charged objects repel or attract each other because of the way these fields act together. This force is present with every charged object. When two objects of opposite charge are brought near one another, the electrostatic field is concentrated in the area between them, as shown in Figure 5. The direction of the small arrows shows the direction of the force as it would act upon an electron if it were released into the electric field.

Figure 5 Electrostatic Field Between Two Charges of Opposite Polarity

When two objects of like charge are brought near one another, the lines of force repel each other, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Electrostatic Field Between Two Charges of Like Polarity

The strength of the attraction or of the repulsion force depends upon two factors: (1) the amount of charge on each object, and (2) the distance between the objects. The greater the charge on the objects, the greater the electrostatic field. The greater the distance between the objects, the weaker the electrostatic field between them, and vice versa. This leads us to the law of electrostatic attraction, commonly referred to as Coulomb's Law of electrostatic charges, which states that the force of electrostatic attraction, or repulsion, is directly proportional to the product of the two charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them as shown in Equation 1-1.

where

If q_l and q₂ are both either positively or negatively charged, the force is repulsive. If q_l and q₂ are opposite polarity or charge, the force is attractive.

Potential Difference

Potential difference is the term used to describe how large the electrostatic force is between two charged objects. If a charged body is placed between two objects with a potential difference, the Figure 7 Potential Difference Between Two Charged Objects charged body will try to move in one direction, depending upon the polarity of the object. If an electron is placed between a negatively-charged body and a positively-charged body, the action due to the potential difference is to push the electron toward the positively-charged object. The electron, being negatively charged, will be repelled from the negatively-charged object and attracted by the positively-charged object, as shown in Figure 7.

Due to the force of its electrostatic field, these electrical charges have the ability to do work by moving another charged particle by attraction and/or repulsion. This ability to do work is called "potential"; therefore, if one charge is different from another, there is a potential difference between them. The sum of the potential differences of all charged particles in the electrostatic field is referred to as electromotive force (EMF).

The basic unit of measure of potential difference is the "volt." The symbol for potential difference is "V," indicating the ability to do the work of forcing electrons to move. Because the volt unit is used, potential difference is also called "voltage." The unit volt will be covered in greater detail in the next chapter.