chapter 2: Coulomb s Law

Introduction
Arned with the necessary tools of vector operations and vector calculus, we are now ready to explore electromagnetic field theory. In this chapter, we study static electric fields (electrostatics), due to charges at rest. A charge can be either concentrated at a point or distributed in some fashion. In any case, the charge is assumed to be constant in time. We begin our discussion by stating Coulomb s law of electrostatic force between two point charges fixed in space. Then We define the electric field intensity as the force per unit charge.

Coulomb s Law:
Electrostatics is based upon the quantitative and experimentally verifiable statement of Coulomb s law pertaining to the electric force that one charged particle exerts on another. From his experiments, Charles Augustin de Coulomb, a French physicist, postulated that the electric force between two charged particles is:
a) Directly proportional to the product of their charges,
b) Inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them,
c) Directed along the line joining them, and
d) Repulsive (attractive) for like (unlike) charges.