Assignment7:Potential

Tounderstandhowpointsareawarded,readtheGradingPolicyforthisassignment.

Problem28.2
Theelectricfieldstrengthis2.20104N/Cinsideaparallelplatecapacitorwitha1.50mmspacing.Anelectronis
releasedfromrestatthenegativeplate.

PartA
Whatistheelectron'sspeedwhenitreachesthepositiveplate?
Expressyouranswerwiththeappropriateunits.
ANSWER:
3.40106 m
s

Correct

ElectricPotentialEnergyofThreePointCharges

PartA
Threeequalpointcharges,eachwithcharge1.90C,areplacedattheverticesofanequilateraltrianglewhose
sidesareoflength0.600m.WhatistheelectricpotentialenergyU ofthesystem?(Takeaszerothepotential
energyofthethreechargeswhentheyareinfinitelyfarapart.)
Use 0 =8.851012

Nm 2

forthepermittivityoffreespace.

Hint1.Howtoapproachtheproblem
Usetheequationfortheelectricpotentialenergybetweentwopointchargestocalculatetheenergyforeach
interactionbetweentwoofthethreepointcharges.Thesumoftheseenergieswillbethetotalelectric
potentialenergy.Becarefultoavoiddoublecounting.

Hint2.Findtheelectricpotentialenergyofonepair
Assumethatonechargeisinteractingwithasecondcharge,ignoringanyeffectsfromthethirdcharge.
WhatistheelectricpotentialenergyU12 forthissingleinteraction?
Expressyouranswerinjoulestothreesignificantfigures.

Hint1.Electricpotentialenergyofapairofcharges
RecallthattheelectricpotentialenergyU betweentwochargesq 1 andq 2 separatedbyadistancer
isgivenbytheformula
=

q1q2

U =

q1q2

4 0

ANSWER:
U12

= 5.41102 J

Hint3.Howmanyinteractionsarethere?
Howmanypairinteractionsarethereforthethreecharges?

Hint1.Doublecounting
Itisimportanttokeepinmindthatapairofchargescaninteractonlyonce,soifthefirstchargeis
interactingwiththesecondchargeforonepair,theinteractionofthesecondchargewiththefirst
chargecannotalsobeused,sincethepairhasalreadybeencounted.
ANSWER:
3

ANSWER:
U

= 0.162 J

Correct
Thepotentialenergyisusuallywritten
U =

qi qj
i<j

4 0 rij

Thismeansthatallpairsofcharges(12,13,and23)willinteract,butnochargecaninteractwithitself(
i = j),norcananypairbecountedtwiceasaresultofthecondition i < jforallpossiblepairs.Forexample,
i = 1 , j = 2 willbecounted,while i = 2 , j = 1 willnot.

ElectricPotentialRankingTask
Inthefiguretherearetwopointcharges,+q andq .Therearealsosixpositions,labeledAthroughF,atvarious
distancesfromthetwopointcharges.Youwillbeaskedabouttheelectricpotentialatthedifferentpoints(AthroughF).

PartA
RankthelocationsAtoFonthebasisoftheelectricpotentialateachpoint.Rankpositiveelectricpotentialsas
higherthannegativeelectricpotentials.
Rankthelocationsfromhighesttolowestpotential.Torankitemsasequivalent,overlapthem.

Hint1.Definitionofelectricpotential
Theelectricpotentialsurroundingapointchargeisdefinedby
V =

kq
r

whereq isthesourcechargecreatingtheelectricpotentialandr isthedistancebetweenthesourcecharge

andthepointofinterest.Ifmorethanonesourceispresent,determinetheelectricpotentialfromeach
sourceandsumtheresults.

Hint2.Conceptualizingelectricpotential
Becausepositivechargescreatepositiveelectricpotentialsintheirvicinityandnegativechargescreate
negativepotentialsintheirvicinity,electricpotentialissometimesvisualizedasasortof"elevation."
Positivechargesrepresentmountainpeaksandnegativechargesdeepvalleys.Inthispicture,whenyou
areclosetoapositivecharge,youare"highup"andhaveahigherpositivepotential.Conversely,neara
negativecharge,youaredeepina"valley"andhaveanegativepotential.Theutilityofthispicture
becomesclearerwhenwebegintothinkofchargesmovingthrougharegionofspacecontaininganelectric
potential.Justasparticlesnaturallyrolldownhill,convertinggravitationalpotentialenergyintokinetic
energy,positivelychargedparticlesnaturally"rolldownhill"aswell,towardregionsoflowerelectric
potential,convertingelectricalpotentialenergyintokineticenergy.
ANSWER:

B>A>C=D>F>E

Correct

Problem28.21

PartA
WhatistheelectricpotentialatpointsA,B,andCinthefigure?Assumethatq =1.8nC,r 1 =1.2cm,andr 2
=1.9cm.
Enteryouranswersnumericallyseparatedby
commas.

ANSWER:
VA

,VB , VC = 1350,1350,853 V

Correct

PartB
WhatisthepotentialdifferenceVAB ?
Expressyouranswertotwosignificantfiguresandincludetheappropriateunits.
ANSWER:
VAB

= 0V

Correct

PartC
WhatisthepotentialdifferenceVBC ?
Expressyouranswerwiththeappropriateunits.
ANSWER:
VBC

= 497V

Correct

EnhancedEOC:Problem28.26
Theelectricpotentialatthedotinthefigureis3020V.
Youmaywanttoreview(

pages828830).

Forhelpwithmathskills,youmaywanttoreview:
SubstitutingNumbersintoMathematicalExpressions
RearrangementofEquationsInvolvingMultiplicationand
Division

PartA
Whatischargeq ?
Expressyouranswertotwosignificantfiguresandincludetheappropriateunits.

Hint1.Howtoapproachtheproblem
Whatistheelectricalpotentialduetoasinglepointchargeatagivendistancefromthecharge?Howdo
youdeterminetheelectricalpotentialduetoseveralpointcharges?
YoushouldconsiderconvertingnCtocoulombsandcentimeterstometersforconsistencyofunitsinyour
calculations.
Whatistheelectricalpotentialatthedotduetothe+5nCand5nCcharges?Whatistheelectrical
potentialatthedotduetothechargeq ?
Whatistheelectricalpotentialatthedotduetoallthechargesintermsofq ?Whatisthechargeq ?
ANSWER:
q

= 9.4nC

Correct

Problem29.4
ThefigureisagraphofEx .Thepotentialattheoriginis200
V .

PartA
Whatisthepotentialatx

= 3.0 m

Expressyouranswertotwosignificantfiguresandincludetheappropriateunits.

ANSWER:
V (3.0 m)

= 700V

Correct

PotentialofaChargedDisk
Adiskofradiusa hasatotalchargeQ uniformlydistributedoveritssurface.Thediskhasnegligiblethicknessand
liesinthexyplane.Throughoutthisproblem,youmayuse
thevariablek inplaceof

1
4 0

PartA
WhatistheelectricpotentialV (z) onthezaxisasafunctionofz ,forz

> 0

ExpressyouranswerintermsofQ ,z ,anda .Youmayusek insteadof

?
1
4 0

Hint1.Howtoapproachtheproblem
Potentialisadditive.Dividethediskintoaseriesofringswithinfinitesimalthickness,findanexpressionfor
thepotentialofeachring,andthenintegrateoverthedisktoobtainthetotalpotential.

Hint2.Findthepotentialduetoaring
WhatisthepotentialdV (z) atposition(0, 0, z)duetoaringofthediskwithradiusr andinfinitesimal
thicknessdr ?
ExpressyouranswerintermsofQ ,r ,dr ,z ,anda .

Hint1.Thepotentialduetoaring
ThepotentialdV (z) atdistancez abovethecenterduetoaninfinitesimallythinringwithradiusr is

dq

dq

dV (z) =
4 0

z 2 +r2

wheredq isthetotalchargeontheringand 0 isthepermittivityoffreespace.

Hint2.Thechargeonaring
Whatisthechargedq onaringofthediskofradiusr andthicknessdr ?
ExpressyouranswerintermsofQ ,a ,r ,anddr .

Hint1.Computethechargedensity
Find,thechargeperunitareaofthedisk.
ExpressyouranswerintermsofQ anda .
ANSWER:

a2

Hint2.Computetheareaofthering
WhatistheintinitesimalareadAofaringofthediskofradiusr andthicknessdr ?
Expressyouranswerintermsofr anddr (tofirstorderindr only).
ANSWER:
dA

2rdr

ANSWER:

dq

2Qrdr
a2

ANSWER:
1

dV (z)

Qrdr
0

a2 z 2 +r2

Hint3.Ausefulantiderivative

r
z 2 +r2

ANSWER:

2
2
dr = z + r

V (z)

2kQ
2

][ z

+a

z]

Correct

PartB
WhatisthemagnitudeE oftheelectricfieldonthez axis,asafunctionofz ,forz

> 0

ExpressyouranswerintermsofsomeorallofthevariablesQ ,z ,anda .Youmayusek insteadof

1
4 0

Hint1.Directionoftheelectricfield
Inwhatdirectiondoestheelectricfieldonthepositivezaxispoint?
ANSWER:
^
i

^
j

^
k

Hint2.Electricfieldfrompotential
Youcanobtainanexpressionforanelectricfieldfromapotentialbythefollowingrelationship:

E =

V
x

^
i

V
y

^
j

V
z

^
k,

whereEistheelectricfieldvectorandV istheelectricpotential.
ANSWER:

2kQ
a2

][1

z
z 2 +a2

Correct
Sincethemagnitudeoftheelectricfield(andpotential)mustbesymmetricaboutthez
expressionforthemagnitudeoftheelectricfieldonthezaxisforallz is
E(z) =

Notetheuseof|z|insteadofz .

Q
2 0 a2

(1

|z|
z 2 +a2

)=

2kQ
a2

(1

|z|
z 2 +a2

= 0

) .

plane,thegeneral

IntroductiontoCapacitance
LearningGoal:
Tounderstandthemeaningofcapacitanceandwaysofcalculatingcapacitance
Whenapositivechargeq isplacedonaconductorthatisinsulatedfromground,anelectricfieldemanatesfromthe
conductortoground,andtheconductorwillhaveanonzeropotentialV relativetoground.Ifmorechargeisplacedon
theconductor,thisvoltagewillincreaseproportionately.TheratioofchargetovoltageiscalledthecapacitanceC of
thisconductor:C = q/V .
Capacitanceisoneofthecentralconceptsinelectrostatics,andspeciallyconstructeddevicescalledcapacitorsare
essentialelementsofelectroniccircuits.Inacapacitor,asecondconductingsurfaceisplacednearthefirst(theyare
oftencalledelectrodes),andtherelevantvoltageisthevoltagebetweenthesetwoelectrodes.
Thistutorialisdesignedtohelpyouunderstandcapacitancebyassistingyouincalculatingthecapacitanceofa
parallelplatecapacitor,whichconsistsoftwoplateseachofareaAseparatedbyasmalldistanced withairor
vacuuminbetween.Infiguringoutthecapacitanceofthisconfigurationofconductors,itisimportanttokeepinmind
thatthevoltagedifferenceisthelineintegraloftheelectricfieldbetweentheplates.

PartA
Whatpropertyofobjectsisbestmeasuredbytheircapacitance?
ANSWER:
abilitytoconductelectriccurrent
abilitytodistortanexternalelectrostaticfield
abilitytostorecharge

Correct
Capacitanceisameasureoftheabilityofasystemoftwoconductorstostoreelectricchargeandenergy.
CapacitanceisdefinedasC =

Q
V

.Thisratioremainsconstantaslongasthesystemretainsitsgeometry

andtheamountofdielectricdoesnotchange.Capacitorsarespecialdevicesdesignedtocombinealarge
capacitancewithasmallsize.However,anypairofconductorsseparatedbyadielectric(orvacuum)has
somecapacitance.Evenanisolatedelectrodehasasmallcapacitance.Thatis,ifachargeQ isplacedonit,
itspotentialV withrespecttogroundwillchange,andtheratio

Q
V

isitscapacitanceC .

PartB
Assumethatchargeq isplacedonthetopplate,and+q isplacedonthebottomplate.Whatisthemagnitude
oftheelectricfieldE betweentheplates?
ExpressE intermsofq andotherquantitiesgivenintheintroduction,inadditionto 0 andanyother
constantsneeded.

Hint1.Howdoyoufindthemagnitudeoftheelectricfield?
WhatistheeasiestwaytoobtainE ?
ANSWER:
UseGauss'slawandthefactthatE

= 0

outsidethecapacitor.

UseGauss'slawandthesymmetryofthelowerplate.
UseCoulomb'slawintegratingoverallchargeonthebottomplate.
UseCoulomb'slawintegratingoverallchargeonbothplates.

Hint2.Whatistheelectricfluxintegralduetotheelectricfield?
ApplyGauss'slawtoasmallboxwhosetopsideisjustabovethelowerplateandwhosebottomisjust
belowit,whereE = 0.Startbyfindingtheelectricfluxintegral E .
Expressthisintegralintermsoftheareaa ofthetopsideoftheboxandthemagnitudeE ofthe
electricfieldbetweentheplates.
ANSWER:
E

aE

Hint3.Findtheenclosedcharge
Findtheamountofchargeq encl enclosedinasmallboxwhosetopsideisjustabovethelowerplateand
whosebottomisjustbelowit,whereE = 0.
Expresstheenclosedchargeintermsofthecrosssectionalareaoftheboxa andotherquantities
givenintheintroduction.

Hint1.Findthesurfacecharge
Whatis,thechargeperunitareaonthelowerplate?
Expressintermsofanynecessaryconstantsandquantitiesgivenintheintroduction.
ANSWER:

q
A

ANSWER:
q

encl

aq
A

Hint4.RecallGauss'slaw
Gauss'slawstatesthat E

q encl
0

ANSWER:

q
A 0

Correct

PartC
WhatisthevoltageV betweentheplatesofthecapacitor?
ExpressV intermsofthequantitiesgivenintheintroductionandanyrequiredphysicalconstants.

Hint1.Theelectricfieldisthederivativeofthepotential
Thevoltagedifferenceistheintegraloftheelectricfieldfromoneplatetotheotherinsymbols,V
ANSWER:

qd
A 0

Correct

= E d

PartD
NowfindthecapacitanceC oftheparallelplatecapacitor.
ExpressC intermsofquantitiesgivenintheintroductionandconstantslike 0 .
ANSWER:

0 A
d

Correct
YouhavederivedthegeneralformulaforthecapacitanceofaparallelplatecapacitorwithplateareaAand
plateseparationd .Itisworthremembering.

PartE
Consideranairfilledchargedcapacitor.Howcanitscapacitancebeincreased?

Hint1.Whatdoescapacitancedependon?
Capacitancedependsontheinherentpropertiesofthesystemofconductors,suchasitsgeometryandthe
presenceofdielectric,notonthechargeplacedontheconductors.
ANSWER:
Increasethechargeonthecapacitor.
Decreasethechargeonthecapacitor.
Increasethespacingbetweentheplatesofthecapacitor.
Decreasethespacingbetweentheplatesofthecapacitor.
Increasethelengthofthewiresleadingtothecapacitorplates.

Correct

PartF
Considerachargedparallelplatecapacitor.Whichcombinationofchangeswouldquadrupleitscapacitance?
ANSWER:

Doublethechargeanddoubletheplatearea.
Doublethechargeanddoubletheplateseparation.
Halvethechargeanddoubletheplateseparation.
Halvethechargeanddoubletheplatearea.
Halvetheplateseparationdoubletheplatearea.
Doubletheplateseparationhalvetheplatearea.

Correct

Problem29.17
Two5.0cmdiameteraluminumelectrodesarespaced0.50mmapart.Theelectrodesareconnectedtoa200V
battery.

PartA
Whatisthecapacitance?
Expressyouranswerwiththeappropriateunits.
ANSWER:
C

= 35pF

Correct

PartB
Whatisthemagnitudeofthechargeoneachelectrode?
Expressyouranswerwiththeappropriateunits.
ANSWER:
Q

= 7.0nC

Correct

Problem29.7

PartA
V

Howmuchchargedoesa9.0Vbatterytransferfromthenegativetothepositiveterminalwhiledoing39J of
work?
Expressyouranswertotwosignificantfiguresandincludetheappropriateunits.
ANSWER:
q

= 4.3C

Correct
ScoreSummary:
Yourscoreonthisassignmentis102%.
Youreceived102.19outofapossibletotalof100points.