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Contents & notes: what this topic covers
Under Electrostatics, the JAMB Physics syllabus expects you to study:
- 28. Electrostatics
- (i) existence of positive and negative charges in matter;
- (ii) charging a body by friction, contact and induction;
- (iii) electroscope;
- (iv) Coulomb’s inverse square law, electric field and potential;
- (v) electric field intensity, potential and potential difference;
- (vi) electric discharge and lightning.
Study notes & guidance
Study Electrostatics using a recommended Physics textbook that follows the JAMB syllabus. Work through the contents listed above one by one, make brief notes in your own words, and then practise as many questions on this topic as you can — in Physics, understanding and steady practice matter far more than memorising. Use the objectives below as a checklist: if you can do each one confidently, you have mastered this topic.
Objectives — candidates should be able to
After studying Electrostatics, you should be able to:
- Identify charges;
- Examine uses of an electroscope;
- Apply Coulomb’s square law of electrostatics to solve problems;
- Deduce expressions for electric field intensity and potential difference;
- Identify electric field flux patterns of isolated and interacting charges;
- Analyse the distribution of charges on a conductor and how it is used in lightening conductors’
- Charge a body by friction, induction and contant.
These objectives are from the official JAMB syllabus. Use them as a checklist — if you can do each one confidently, you have mastered this topic.
Source: official JAMB UTME Physics syllabus (IBASS, jamb.gov.ng). Reproduced for study use. Last checked: 17 Sept 2026. Always confirm the current syllabus on the official portal.