Static Fields and Potentials

Description

Static Fields and Potentials describes two of the fundamental interactions in nature: gravity and electromagnetism. The book introduces the associated fields, potentials, and energies and explains the relationship among them. It shows how these interactions manifest themselves in different ways, from the formation of stars to the operation of thund Cover Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: Gravitational and electric forces and fields 1: The story of planetary motion 2: Gravitational forces and fields 2.1: Newton's law and gravitational forces between two masses 2.2: Addition of forces: more than two masses 2.3: Introduction to the gravitational field 2.4: Vector and scalar fields 2.5: Defining the gravitational field 2.6: The force on a particle in a gravitational field 2.7: The gravitational field due to a point particIe 3: A first look at charge 3.1: Some simple electrostatic phenomena 3.2: Electric charge 3.3: The distribution of electric charge 4: Electric forces and fields 4.1: Coulomb's law and the electrostatic forces between two charges 4.2: Coulomb's law 4.3: Defining the electric field 4.4: The force on a charge in an electric field 4.5: The electric field due to a point charge 4.6: Addition of electric fields 4.7: Representations of electric fields 4.8: Field lines in general 5: Applications of electric fields 5.1: Millikan's oil drop experiment 5.2: Ink-jet and electrostatic printing 5.3: Liquid crystal displays 5.4: The Earth's electric field 6: Closing items Chapter 2: Gravitational and electric potential 1: Where does a star's energy come from? 2: Potential energy 2.1: Gravitational potential energy near the surface of the Earth 3: Gravitational and electric potential 3.1: Defining the electric potential 3.2: The relationship between field and potential 3.3: Equipotentials and field representations 3.4: Electrostatic screening 4: Capacitance and energy storage in electric fields 4.1: Capacitors 4.2: Energy storage in capacitors 5: Applieations of potential and potential energy 5.1: Hydroelectric power 5.2: White dwarfs, red giants, neutron stars and black holes 5.3: Ion thrusters 5.4: Electrophoresis and DNA fingerprinting 5.5: Cathode ray and television tubes 6: Closing items Chapter 3: Electric currents 1: An electric world 2: What is an electrie current? 2.1: Currents in metals 2.2: Currents in insulators or semieonductors 2.3: Currents in solutions 2.4: Currents in plasmas 3: Currents in simple circuits 3.1: Basic definitions 3.2: Why currents flow 3.3: Resistance and simple circuits 3.4: Kirchhoffs laws 3.5: Circuits with a capacitor 4: Power, internal resistance and electromotive force 4.1: Power dissipated in aresistor 4.2: Batteries and electromotive force 5: Currents in the everyday world 5.1: Resistance sensors 5.2: Electric lights 5.3: Currents in the Earth and its atmosphere 5.4: Currents in living organisms 6: Closing items Chapter 4: Magnetic fields and the Lorentz force law 1: The magie of magnetism 2: The magnetic field 2.1: Charged particles in electric and magnetic fields 2.2: Magnetic fields and magnetic field strengths 2.3: Representations of magnetic fields 2.4: Some fundamental questions about magnetic fields 3: The generation of magnetic fields 3.1: Magnetic field due to a current in a long straight wire 3.2: Magnetic field due to a current in a circular loop of wire 3.3: Magnetic field due to a current in two coils of wire 3.4: Magnetic field due to a current in a cylindrical solenoid 3.5: Magnetic field of the Earth 3.6: Biological magnetic fields 4: Magnetic materials 4.1: Permanent magnets 4.2: The response of substances to applied magnetic fields 4.3: Understanding ferromagnets 4.4: Magnetic materials in action 5: The motion of charged particles in uniform magnetic fields 5.1: Motion of a charged particle in a uniform magnetic field 5.2: The Lorentz force law 5.3: Devices involving uniform fields 5.4: Magnetic forces on current-carrying conductors 6: The motion of charged particles in non-uniform magnetic fields 6.1: Magnetic mirrors and magnetic bottles 6.2: Trapped particles in the Earth's magnetic field 7: Closing items Chapter 5: Consolidation and skills development 1: lntroduction 2: Overview of Chapters 1 to 4 3: Critical skills 4: Basic skills and knowledge test 5: lnteractive questions 6: Physico problems Answers and comments Acknowledgements Index