ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to use Gauss’ law to examine the field around an infinitely long charged line. In an electrostatic field, we have an electrostatic force field instead of a gravitational force field. It may be thought that the study of static electric fields has little to offer the electrical engineer. Electric flux will radiate outwards from this line of charge and the direction of this flux will be away from the line in a radial direction. Capacitors come in a variety of shapes and sizes: from big electrolytic capacitors for smoothing the output of power supplies to small value disc ceramic capacitors for use in high-frequency circuits. The higher the capacitance of a conductor system, the easier it is to produce electric flux. The chapter looks at two applications of electrostatics: the electron gun and the electrostatic precipitator. If there are dust particles between the plates, free electrons will attach themselves to the dust, so making them negatively charged.
