As a physics teacher, I can be quite amazed how some students manage to go through chemical or electrical engineering courses and even pass their exams without really understanding what an electric charge actually is!
Yes, it’s a “+” or a “-“. But a “+” or “-“ what?
Usually, those students manage by learning the “rules”,but in the end, they do not get a precise feel of what they are doing. Confronted with a new situation or problem, they can end up feeling quite lost
This class is aimed at preventing that: here you will learn what a charge really is through 10 videos.
Episode 1 explains how a charge is actually a property, not a definite body or object.
Episode 2 presents how a charge is quantified by introducing the concept of elementary charge.
Episode 3 details the principle of conservation of charge.
Episode 4 develops the idea that charges attract or repel each other.
Episode 5 explains that the motion of charges forms a current.
Episode 6 explains why some materials are electrical conductors, and others electrical insulators.
Episodes 7 and 8 plays with static electricity by showing you ‘magic’ tricks. Of course, these episodes explain also what is really going on physically.
Episode 9 is maybe the most important episode as it develops the real definition of an electric charge, using the notion of electric field.
Episode 10 is a little quiz that will help you check your new understanding of the concept of electric charge.
If you follow this class till the end, you will have a good understanding of what an electric charge is. This will able you to enroll with confidence in any other science course where electric charges are involved.
This class is the first of a series that I intend to produce on Electric Fields and Electricity. If all goes according to plan, the following classes will be Coulomb’s forces, Electric Fields, DC Electric Circuits and If I have the time, Magnetism, Electromagnetic Induction and Capacitance.
Enjoy!
Edouard Reny, PhD, Tutor in Physics.
