2/3/2019 Homework #01 (phy 112)

Homework #01 (phy 112)

Due: 11:00pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2019
To understand how points are awarded, read the Grading Policy for this assignment.

A message from your instructor...

Please read the text for the first question carefully as the language strongly/weakly attracted/repelled is defined there. This
language will also be used in some of the other questions below.

A Test Charge Determines Charge on Insulating and Conducting Balls

Learning Goal:

To understand the electric force between charged and uncharged conductors and insulators.

When a test charge is brought near a charged object, we know from Coulomb's law that it will experience a net force (either
attractive or repulsive, depending on the nature of the object's charge). A test charge may also experience an electric force when
brought near a neutral object. Any attraction of a neutral insulator or neutral conductor to a test charge must occur through
induced polarization. In an insulator, the electrons are bound to their molecules. Though they cannot move freely throughout the
insulator, they can shift slightly, creating a rather weak net attraction to a test charge that is brought close to the insulator's
surface. In a conductor, free electrons will accumulate on the surface of the conductor nearest the positive test charge. This will
create a strong attractive force if the test charge is placed very close to the conductor's surface.

Consider three plastic balls (A, B, and C), each carrying a uniformly
distributed charge equal to either +Q, -Q or zero, and an uncharged
copper ball (D). A positive test charge (T) experiences the forces
shown in the figure when brought very near to the individual balls. The
test charge T is strongly attracted to A, strongly repelled from B,
weakly attracted to C, and strongly attracted to D.

Assume throughout this problem that the balls are brought very close
together.

Part A
What is the nature of the force between balls A and B?

Hint 1. What is the net charge on ball A?

Since the test charge is positively charged, and there is a strongly attractive force between ball A and the test
charge, what must be the nature of the net charge of ball A?

ANSWER:

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2/3/2019 Homework #01 (phy 112)

positive

negative

zero

Hint 2. What is the net charge on ball B?

Since the test charge is positively charged, and there is a strongly repulsive force between ball B and the test
charge, what must be the nature of the net charge of ball B?
ANSWER:

positive

negative

zero

ANSWER:

strongly attractive

strongly repulsive

weakly attractive

neither attractive nor repulsive

Correct

Part B
What is the nature of the force between balls A and C?

Hint 1. What is the charge on ball C?

Recall that ball C is composed of insulating material, which means that it can be polarized, but the charges inside are
otherwise not free to move around inside the ball. Since the test charge experiences only a weak force due to ball C,
if we compare to ball A we conclude that the charge on ball C must be

ANSWER:

+Q

-Q

zero

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2/3/2019 Homework #01 (phy 112)

ANSWER:

strongly attractive

strongly repulsive

weakly attractive

neither attractive nor repulsive

Correct
Recall that ball C is composed of insulating material, which can be polarized in the presence of an external
charged object such as ball A. Once polarized, there will be a weak attraction between balls A and C, because the
positive and negative charges in ball C are at slightly different average distances from ball A. If ball C had a very
small negative charge the test charge would have the same response (weakly attractive) but it would have a weak
repulsive interaction with ball A. However, a smaller negative charge is not one of the options.

Part C
What is the nature of the force between balls A and D?

Hint 1. What are the surface charges on ball D?

Recall that copper is a conductor, in which charges can freely flow. When ball D is brought close to ball A, what will
be the nature of the surface charge density on the side of ball D that is closest to ball A?
ANSWER:

positive

negative

zero

ANSWER:

attractive

repulsive

neither attractive nor repulsive

Correct

Part D
What is the nature of the force between balls D and C?

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2/3/2019 Homework #01 (phy 112)
ANSWER:

attractive

repulsive

neither attractive nor repulsive

Correct
Because the test charge T is neither strongly attracted to nor repelled from ball C, ball C must have zero net
charge. Since ball D also has zero net charge, there will not be any force between the two balls.

Charging an Insulator

This problem explores the behavior of charge on realistic (i.e. non-ideal) insulators. We take as an example a long insulating rod
suspended by insulating wires. Assume that the rod is initially electrically neutral. For convenience, we will refer to the left end of
the rod as end A, and the right end of the rod as end B . In the answer
options for this problem, "weakly attracted/repelled" means
"attracted/repelled with a force of magnitude similar to that which
would exist between two balls, one of which is charged, and the other
acquires a small induced charge". An attractive/repulsive force greater
than this should be classified as "strongly attracted/repelled".

Part A
A small metal ball is given a negative charge, then brought near (i.e., within a few millimeters) to end A of the rod. What
happens to end A of the rod when the ball approaches it closely this first time?
Select the expected behavior.

Hint 1. What is an insulator?

An insulator is a material which does not allow charge/current to flow easily through it.

Hint 2. Charge at end A

Keeping in mind that like charges repel each other, and opposite charges attract each other, what sort of charge is
induced at end A of the (non-ideal) insulating rod?
ANSWER:

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2/3/2019 Homework #01 (phy 112)

A small positive charge

A small negative charge

ANSWER:

strongly repelled

strongly attracted

weakly attracted

weakly repelled

neither attracted nor repelled

Correct
Currently, you can think of this in the following way: When the sphere is brought near the rod, a positive charge is
induced at end A (and correspondingly, end B acquires a negative induced charge). This means that some charge
must have flowed from A to B. Since charge flow is inhibited in an insulator, the induced charges are typically
small. Later you will learn how to model insulators more accurately and formulate a slightly more accurate
argument.

Now consider what happens when the small metal ball is repeatedly given a negative charge and then brought into contact with
end A of the rod

Part B
After several contacts with the charged ball, how is the charge on the rod arranged?

Select the best description.

Hint 1. What is an insulator?

An insulator is a material which does not allow charge/current to flow easily through it.

ANSWER:

positive charge on end B and negative charge on end A

negative charge spread evenly on both ends

negative charge on end A with end B remaining almost neutral

positive charge on end A with end B remaining almost neutral

none of the above

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Correct
When the sphere is touched to end A, some of its negative charge will be deposited there. However, since charge
cannot flow easily through an insulator, most of this charge will just sit at end A and will not distribute itself over the
rod, as it would if the rod was a conductor.

Part C
How does end A of the rod react when the ball approaches it after it has already made several contacts with the rod, such
that a fairly large charge has been deposited at end A?

Select the expected behavior.

ANSWER:

strongly repelled

strongly attracted

weakly attracted

weakly repelled

neither attracted nor repelled

Correct
More on insulators
You may have learnt that any material is made of atoms, which in turn consist of a nucleus and electrons. In the
atoms of some materials, some of the electrons are "bound" to the nucleus very weakly, which leaves them free to
move around the volume of the material. Such electrons are called "free" electrons, and such materials are called
conductors, because the charge (i.e. electrons) can move around easily. In insulators, all the electrons in the atom
are bound quite tightly to the nucleus, i.e. there are no free electrons available to move through the insulator.

Problem 17.01

A positively charged glass rod is brought close to a neutral sphere that is supported on a nonconducting plastic stand as shown
in .

Part A
Determine the distribution of charges on the sphere if it is made of aluminum.

Drag the appropriate labels to their respective targets. Labels can be used once, more than once, or not at all.
ANSWER:

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2/3/2019 Homework #01 (phy 112)

Reset Help

+- + -
+ -
-+
+ -
+

Correct

Part B
Determine the distribution of charges on the sphere if it is made of non-conducting plastic.

Drag the appropriate labels to their respective targets. Labels can be used once, more than once, or not at all.

ANSWER:

Reset Help

+- +- +-

+- +-
+
+- +-
-+

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Correct

Prelecture Concept Question 17.01

Part A
A plastic rod is rubbed with a fur. During the rubbing process, the rod acquires a negative charge. What type of charge does
the fur acquire?

ANSWER:

The fur also acquires a negative charge.

The fur remains neutral.

The fur acquires a positive charge.

The fur acquires either a negative or positive charge, depending on how hard the rod was rubbed.

Correct

Prelecture Concept Question 17.02

Part A
A positively charged rod is brought close to one end of an uncharged metal rod but does not actually touch it. What type of
charge does the end of the metal rod closest to the positively charged rod acquire?
ANSWER:

The end of the metal rod closest to the positively charged rod acquires a negative charge.

The end of the metal rod closest to the positively charged rod remains neutral.

The end of the metal rod closest to the positively charged rod can acquire either a positive or negative charge,
depending on the composition of the metal.

The end of the metal rod closest to the positively charged rod acquires a positive charge.

Correct

Prelecture Concept Question 17.03

Part A
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2/3/2019 Homework #01 (phy 112)

Which of the following statements are true?

Check all that apply.

ANSWER:

Two negative charges repel each other.

Electric charge is conserved.

A positive charge and a negative charge attract each other.

A neutral object contains no charge.

Electric charge is quantized.

Two positive charges attract each other.

Correct

Video Tutor: Charged Rod and Aluminum Can

First, launch the video below. You will be asked to use your knowledge of physics to predict the outcome of an experiment. Then,
close the video window and answer the questions at right. You can watch the video again at any point.

Part A
Consider the situation in the figure below, where two charged rods are placed a distance d on either side of an aluminum
can. What does the can do?

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Hint 1. How to approach the problem.

This problem asks you to think about induced charge on the surface of an object and the resulting polarization force.

To get started, draw a diagram. Draw the induced surface charges on the outside of the can. Next, draw a force
diagram (free-body diagram) to show the forces exerted on the can. Aluminum is a conductor.

ANSWER:

Rolls to the right

Rolls to the left

Stays still

Correct
The positively charged rod induces a negative charge on the left side of the can, creating an attractive force
between the rod and the can. However, the negatively charged rod induces an equal positive charge on the right
side of the can, which creates an attractive force between the can and that rod. The net force acting on the can is
zero.

Part B
Now, consider the situation shown in the figure below. What does the can do?

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ANSWER:

Rolls to the right

Stays still

Rolls to the left

Correct
The polarization force is always attractive, so the can does not move.

Part C
Using the setup from the first question, imagine that you briefly touch the negatively charged rod to the can (assume that
this rod is conducting for the sake of effect). You then hold the two rods at equal distances on either side of the can. What
does the can do?

Hint 1. How to approach the problem.

This problem asks you to consider what happens to a conductor after being touched by a charged object. What
charge will the can have after being touched?

ANSWER:

Rolls toward the positively charged rod

Does not move

Rolls away from the positively charged rod

Correct
The can acquires a net negative charge after being touched, so it is then attracted to the positively charged rod.

Score Summary:

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2/3/2019 Homework #01 (phy 112)
Your score on this assignment is 100%.
You received 15 out of a possible total of 15 points.

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