Abstract
In this chapter we begin the study of electricity. Although we ultimately wish to understand the flow of electric charges through electrical circuits, we must start with the simple empirical laws of the interaction of charges at rest, called electrostatics. Our starting point will be the observed behavior of electric charges at rest and how careful observations by Coulomb led him to postulate laws of the behavior of charges at rest in their interaction with one another. We will also examine the superposition principle according to which the behavior of multiple charges on one another is a simple sum of the one-to-one interactions (pairwise).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Garcia, N., Damask, A. (1991). Electrostatics. In: Physics for Computer Science Students. Springer Study Edition. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0421-0_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0421-0_13
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-97656-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-0421-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive