What is the Electric Field for a Charged Sheet at Different Distances?

[Fanman22]

A flat square sheet of thin aluminum foil, 25 cm on a side, carries a uniformly distributed -36 nC charge. What is the approximate electric field at the following positions?

a.)0.01m above surface?
b.) 20m above the sheet?


For a.), I used E=chargedensity/(2)epsilon. From my understanding, this can only be used for points far from the edges and close to a surface.

So for b.), this formula does not apply. I cannot find anything in my notes or the text that describes this situation.

Any suggestions?

 

[Doc Al]

For a.), I used E=chargedensity/(2)epsilon. From my understanding, this can only be used for points far from the edges and close to a surface.

Right.

So for b.), this formula does not apply. I cannot find anything in my notes or the text that describes this situation.

Hint: If you are far enough away, you can treat the object as a charged particle.

 

[SpaceTiger]

So for b.), this formula does not apply. I cannot find anything in my notes or the text that describes this situation.

Try breaking it down. If the charge on the plate were a single point charge, what would the field be? If the charge was split into two point charges separated by 25 cm, how much would this change the result? What about 3 or 4?

 

[Fanman22]

damn, I tried that earlier because it seemed like as you got further and further away, the sheet would appear small (like a pt charge)...only problem was...I forgot to square the 20m