
This law states that two charged particles near each other exert a certain amount of force on each other. The law at the centre of this branch of physics is Coulomb’s law. ElectrostaticsĮlectrostatics is a branch of physics that studies the interaction of stationary charges. In this equation V(r) denotes the external potential at point r. Then the potential energy of q brought from infinity to P is = qV(r) Suppose the charge is q, the related external potential is V, the point in the external field is P, and the position vector of the point is r. This is given by the product of the charge and the potential at that point. The potential at a point is the amount of work done to bring a point charge from infinity up to that point. In the external field, the potential and the field may vary. Hence, it can be assumed that the point charge does not influence the external field produced by a powerful source at infinity and extends to a limited field in the area where the point charge is present. This can be true only for point charges because they are small or if the external field is held in place through other forces or factors. While calculating the potential energy of a point charge in an external field, it is assumed that the point charge does not affect the source of the external field. Often, this source is unidentified and its location is unknown. When the potential energy of a single charge has to be calculated, the source of the external field is considered. This work can be expressed by expression for the potential energy of a system of two charges in an external field: q 1V(r 1) + q 2V(r 2) + (q 1q 2/4πε or 12). Hence, the potential energy of the system is the sum of the work done in setting up the whole system of two charges.So the work done to bring q 2 to the point r 2 is = q 2V(r 2 ) + (q 1q 2/4πε or 12).Now equations 1 and 2 can be added by following the rule of superposition of fields along with the work done on q 2 due to the two fields.In equation 2, r 12 is the displacement between q 1 and q 2.This work done on q 2 is given by (q 1q 2/4πε or 12 ). There is some work done on q 2 due to the field produced by q 1.So the work done on q 1 = q 1V(r 1), and the work done on q 2 = q 2V(r 2).This work is done against the external field as well as the field created by the charges.So q 1r 1 and q 2r 2 are the works done to get q 1 to r 1 and q 2 to r 2 from infinity. The work done in this step can be denoted by the product of the charges and the points.First, calculate the amount of work done to get the charges q 1 and q 2 to the points r 1 and r 2, respectively, from infinity.We can calculate the potential energy of a system of two charges q 1 and q 2, which are at points with position vectors r 1 and r 2, respectively, by using the following steps. The potential energy of a system of two charges The potential energy of a system of two charges is negative when these two charges are opposite, that is, when one charge is negative and the other is positive the potential energy is positive when both charges are the same. The Coulomb force exists between two stationary charges. Examples of conservative forces include spring force and Coulomb force. Forces of this category are called conservative forces.


Thus, the total energy of the system is conserved. In other words, the body starts moving, and its stored potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. When the influence of this force is removed, the object gains kinetic energy and loses potential energy. This work is usually done by another force. For example, if an object is moved against gravity or spring, the work done is stored in the object in the form of potential energy. Potential energy is the energy stored when work is done against an external force.
