Electrostatics & Current Electricity

Coulomb's law, electric field and potential, capacitors, Ohm's law, and circuits

Key Concepts
  • Coulomb's law gives the force between point charges
  • Gauss's law: total flux through a closed surface = Q_enc/ε₀
  • Electric field inside a conductor is zero; surface is equipotential
  • Ohm's law (V = IR) holds for ohmic conductors at constant temperature
  • Kirchhoff's laws (KCL and KVL) solve any circuit network
Important Formulae
Coulomb's force F = kq₁q₂/r²; k = 9×10⁹
Field & potential E = kq/r²; V = kq/r
Parallel-plate capacitor C = ε₀A/d
Energy in capacitor U = ½CV² = Q²/2C
Power P = VI = I²R = V²/R
Combinations Series: R add, 1/C add · Parallel: 1/R add, C add
Quick Tips
  • A dielectric increases capacitance by a factor κ (dielectric constant).
  • Maximum power is transferred to the load when R_external = r (internal).
  • Drift velocity is tiny (~mm/s) even though the signal travels near c.
Sample Practice Questions
  1. Using Ohm's law, the voltage across a 5 Ω resistor carrying 2 A is:

    • 2.5 V
    • 7 V
    • 10 V
    • 3 V
    Show answer

    Answer: 10 V

  2. The energy stored in a 2 F capacitor charged to 3 V (U = ½CV²) is:

    • 3 J
    • 6 J
    • 9 J
    • 18 J
    Show answer

    Answer: 9 J

  3. Two 2 Ω resistors connected in parallel give a total resistance of:

    • 1 Ω
    • 2 Ω
    • 4 Ω
    • 0.5 Ω
    Show answer

    Answer: 1 Ω

  4. The value of Coulomb's constant k is approximately:

    • 6.6×10⁻¹¹ N·m²/C²
    • 9×10⁹ N·m²/C²
    • 3×10⁸ N·m²/C²
    • 1.6×10⁻¹⁹ N·m²/C²
    Show answer

    Answer: 9×10⁹ N·m²/C²

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Practice Questions

Practise randomly selected JEE questions on Electrostatics & Current Electricity. Answers are revealed after each question.

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