PHYS 142 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Atomic Orbital, Elementary Charge, Electric Dipole Moment

• School: McGill University
• Department: Physics
• Course: PHYS 142
• Professor: Guillaume Gervais

Document Summary

Phys 142: electromagnetism and optics - lecture 1: introduction to electricity and charges. A neutral object is an object that contains no charge. An electric charge can be placed on an object through rubbing. These charges cause a long distance attractive or repulsive force which depends on the distance between the charged objects. Postulates of the charge model (part 1): Frictional forces, such as rubbing, add or remove charges from an object. There are only two types of charge: positive and negative. The force between two charges is long range; it increases as the distance between the charges decreases and vice versa. Neutral objects have an equal mixture of positive and negative charges. An atom consists of a nucleus and electrons (negative charge) surrounding it. The nucleus contains both protons (positive) and neutrons (neutral) The atom is held together by attractive electric forces between the positive nucleus and the negative electrons.