Assignment 2: Electric Fields

Due: 8:00am on Friday, January 13, 2012 Note: To understand how points are awarded, read your instructor's Grading Policy. [Switch to Standard Assignment View]

The Electric Field at a Point Due to Two Point Charges

A point charge is at the point Part A Calculate the magnitude of the net electric field at the origin due to these two point charges. Hint A.1 How to approach the problem Hint not displayed Hint A.2 Calculate the x component of the field created by Hint not displayed Hint A.3 Calculate the y component of Hint not displayed Hint A.4 Calculate the magnitude of the field created by the first charge Hint not displayed Hint A.5 Calculate the x component of Hint not displayed Hint A.6 Calculate the y component of Hint not displayed Hint A.7 Putting it all together Hint not displayed Express your answer in newtons per coulomb to three significant figures. ANSWER: 131 = Correct Part B What is the direction, relative to the negative x axis, of the net electric field at the origin due to these two point charges. Hint B.1 How to approach the problem Hint not displayed Express your answer in degrees to three significant figures. ANSWER: 12.6 = Correct up from the negative x axis is at the point meters, . meters, meters, and a second point charge

The Trajectory of a Charge in an Electric Field

An charge with mass and charge is emitted from the origin, . A large, flat screen is located at

. There is a target on the screen at y position , where . In this problem, you will examine two different ways that the charge might hit the target. Ignore gravity in this problem. Part A Assume that the charge is emitted with velocity in the positive x direction. Between the origin and the screen, the charge travels through a constant electric field pointing in the positive y direction. What should the magnitude of the electric field be if the charge is to hit the target on the screen? Hint A.1 How to approach the problem Hint not displayed Hint A.2 Find the equation of motion in the x direction Hint not displayed Hint A.3 Find the equation of motion in the y direction Hint not displayed Hint A.4 Combine Your Results Hint not displayed Hint A.5 Find Hint not displayed Express your answer in terms of ANSWER: = Correct Part B Now assume that the charge is emitted with velocity in the positive y direction. Between the origin and the screen, the charge travels through a constant electric field pointing in the positive x direction. What should the magnitude of the electric field be if the charge is to hit the target on the screen? Hint B.1 How to approach the problem Hint not displayed Hint B.2 Find the equation of motion in the y direction Hint not displayed Hint B.3 Find the equation of motion in the x direction Hint not displayed Hint B.4 Combine your results Hint not displayed Hint B.5 Find Hint not displayed Express your answer in terms of , , , , and . , , , , and .

ANSWER: = Correct The equations of motion for this part are identical to the equations of motion for the previous part, with interchanged. Thus it is no surprise that the answers to the two parts are also identical, with interchanged. An integral useful in the next problem can be found in Appendix B of our text and and

The Electric Field Produced by a Finite Charged Wire

A charged wire of negligible thickness has length has a linear charge density . Consider the electric field wire. Part A The field points along one of the primary axes. Which one? Hint A.1 Consider opposite ends of the wire Hint not displayed ANSWER: at the point

units and

, a distance above the midpoint of the

Correct Part B What is the magnitude of the electric field at point ? Throughout this part, express your answers in terms of

the constant , defined by . Hint B.1 How to approach the problem

Hint not displayed Hint B.2 Find the field due to an infinitesimal segment Hint not displayed Hint B.3 A necessary integral Hint not displayed Express your answer in terms of ANSWER: = Correct In part d below you might want to remind yourself of the spring equation, F = ma = -kx , , , and .

Charged Ring
Consider a uniformly charged ring in the xy plane, centered at the origin. The ring has radius and positive charge

distributed evenly along its circumference. Part A What is the direction of the electric field at any point on the z axis? Hint A.1 How to approach the problem Hint not displayed ANSWER: parallel to the x axis parallel to the y axis parallel to the z axis in a circle parallel to the xy plane Correct Part B What is the magnitude of the electric field along the positive z axis? Hint B.1 Formula for the electric field

Hint not displayed Hint B.2 Simplifying with symmetry Hint not displayed Hint B.3 Integrating around the ring Hint not displayed Use in your answer, where ANSWER: = Correct Notice that this expression is valid for both positive and negative charges as well as for points located on the positive and negative z axis. If the charge is positive, the electric field should point outward. For points on the positive z axis, the field points in the positive z direction, which is outward from the origin. For points on the negative z axis, the field points in the negative z direction, which is also outward from the origin. If the charge is negative, the electric field should point toward the origin. For points on the positive z axis, the negative sign from the charge causes the electric field to point in the negative z direction, which points toward the origin. For points on the negative z axis, the negative sign from the z coordinate and the negative sign from the charge cancel, and the field points in the positive z direction, which also points toward the origin. Therefore, even though we obtained the above result for postive and , the algebraic expression is valid for any signs of the parameters. As a check, it is good to see that if is much greater than the magnitude of is approximately , independent of the size of the ring: The field due to the ring is almost the same as that due to a point charge at the origin. Part C Imagine a small metal ball of mass and negative charge . The ball is released from rest at the point , what will be the ball's subsequent .

and constrained to move along the z axis, with no damping. If trajectory? ANSWER: repelled from the origin attracted toward the origin and coming to rest oscillating along the z axis between circling around the z axis at Correct Part D The ball will oscillate along the z axis between and and

in simple harmonic motion. What will be the to simplify your calculation; that is,

angular frequency of these oscillations? Use the approximation assume that . Hint D.1 Simple harmonic motion Hint not displayed Hint D.2 Find the force on the charge Hint not displayed

Express your answer in terms of given charges, dimensions, and constants. ANSWER: = Correct Careful application of the result from Example 21.11 in text is helpful in the next (finite sheets) problem

What About Finite Sheets?

Frequently in physics, one makes simplifying approximations. A common one in electricity is the notion of infinite charged sheets. This approximation is useful when a problem deals with points whose distance from a finite charged sheet is small compared to the size of the sheet. In this problem, you will look at the electric field from two finite sheets and compare it to the results for infinite sheets to get a better idea of when this approximation is valid. Consider two thin disks, of negligible thickness, of radius oriented perpendicular to the x axis such that the x

axis runs through the center of each disk. has positive charge density , and the disk centered at charge density is charge per unit area. Part A

The disk centered at has negative charge density , where the

What is the magnitude of the electric field at the point on the x axis with x coordinate Hint A.1 How to approach the problem Hint not displayed Hint A.2 The magnitude of the electric field due to a single disk Hint not displayed Hint A.3 Determine the general form of the electric field between the disks Hint not displayed Express your answer in terms of , ANSWER: = Correct , , and the permittivity of free space .

Notice that as approaches , this expression approaches , the result for two infinite sheets. Also, note that the minimum value of the electric field, which corresponds in this case to the greatest deviation from the

result for two infinite sheets, occurs halfway between the disks (i.e., at Part B For what value of the ratio

).

of plate radius to separation between the plates does the electric field at the point for infinite sheets?

on the x axis differ by 1 percent from the result Hint B.1 Percent difference Express your answer to two significant figures. ANSWER: 50 = Correct

Hint not displayed

As mentioned above, this is the point on the x axis where the deviation from the result for two infinite sheets is greatest. A common component of electrical circuits called a capacitor is usually made from two thin charged sheets that are separated by a small distance. In such a capacitor, the ratio is far greater than 50. Based on your result, you can see that the infinite sheet approximation is quite good for a capacitor. This applet shows the electric field lines from a pair of finite plates (viewed edge-on). You can adjust the surface charge density. You can also move the test charge around and increase or decrease its charge to see what sort of force it would experience. Notice that the deviation from uniform electric field only becomes noticeable near the edges of the capacitor plates. Problem 21.96 is from the old 12th edition

Problem 21.96
Positive charge is uniformly distributed around a semicircle of radius .

Part A Find the magnitude of the electric field at the center of curvature P. Express your answer in terms of the given quantities and appropriate constants. ANSWER: = Correct Part B

What is the direction of the electric field at the center of curvature P. ANSWER: downward upward Correct

Problem 21.99
Two 1.20 nonconducting wires meet at a right angle. One segment carries 4.00 4.00 of charge distributed uniformly along its length, and the other carries distributed uniformly along it, as shown in the figure

. Part A Find the magnitude of the electric field these wires produce at point ANSWER: 1.00105 = Correct Part B Find the direction of the electric field these wires produce at point that the -axis directed vertically.) ANSWER: 135 = Correct countercockwise from the -axis Part C If an electron is released at , what is the magnitude of the net force that these wires exert on it? ANSWER: 1.601014 = Correct Part D If an electron is released at , what is the direction of the net force that these wires exert on it?(Suppose that the -axis directed vertically.) ANSWER: 315 = Correct countercockwise from the -axis , which is 60.0 from each wire.(Suppose , which is 60.0 from each wire.