TABLE OF CONTENTS The important properties of time-independent electrostatic fields will be reviewed in this chapter. This will include a review of the force between two stationary charges, the concept of an electric field, the energy stored in an electric field, and several procedures that are used to calculate the electric field. Capacitance will be defined in terms of electrical charges and electrical fields. The effects of dielectric materials that are introduced into the region containing an electric field will be described.
The phenomenon that is the basis for the study of static electric fields has been known since ancient times. As early as 600 B.C., Thales of Miletus observed that the rubbing of amber against a cloth caused the amber rod to attract light objects to itself. The use of amber by this ancient Greek experimenter has had a dramatic influence on the discipline that we now call electrical engineering [1] and on the subject of electromagnetic fields. Indeed, these ancient observers have given us a word that is still in everyday use the Greek word for amber is lektron. Materials other than amber also exhibit this process of electrification and today we can observe the same effect when we rub a glass rod on a silk cloth or take off a wool sweater too quickly. Both the rod and the cloth will attract small pieces of "fluff and stuff."
A new entity in nature that we call a charge was uncovered in those experiments. It is...
