Electrostatics and Coulomb's law

In summary, to find the direction of the electric field at the center of the square, we use the principle that electric field lines point towards negative charges and away from positive charges. Therefore, the direction of the electric field will be diagonal, towards the corners with the positive charges.
  • #1
dancer2012
7
0

Homework Statement


+2μC -2μC
0------------0
| |
| |
| |
0------------0
+2μC -2μC
This is a square
Each side in .2 (no units)
Find the magnitude and direction of the electric field at the center of the square

Homework Equations



E=F/q
E=kq/r^2



The Attempt at a Solution


E=kq/r^2
E= 9E9 * 2E-6/√.02^2
E=900,000 N/C

I am pretty confident in this answer but i do not know how to find the direction of this field
 
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  • #2
at the center of the square. Can someone explain how to determine the direction of an electric field?

Great job on finding the magnitude of the electric field at the center of the square! To determine the direction, we need to use the principle that electric field lines always point away from positive charges and towards negative charges. In this case, we have positive charges (+2μC) at the corners of the square, so the electric field lines will point away from them. This means that the direction of the electric field at the center of the square will be towards the corners with the positive charges, as shown in the diagram below:

+2μC -2μC
0------------0
| |
| ←E ←E |
| |
0------------0
+2μC -2μC

Since the electric field lines are pointing towards the corners with the positive charges, the direction of the electric field at the center of the square will be diagonal, towards the corners with the positive charges. I hope this helps!
 

1. What is electrostatics?

Electrostatics is the branch of physics that studies the behavior of stationary electric charges and the forces they exert on each other.

2. What is Coulomb's law?

Coulomb's law states that the force between two charged particles is directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

3. How is Coulomb's law mathematically expressed?

Coulomb's law is expressed as F = k(q1q2) / r2, where F is the force, k is the Coulomb's constant, q1 and q2 are the charges of the particles, and r is the distance between them.

4. What is the unit of electric charge?

The unit of electric charge is the coulomb (C). It is defined as the amount of charge transported by a constant current of one ampere in one second.

5. How does Coulomb's law relate to the concept of electric fields?

Coulomb's law is used to calculate the electric field strength at a particular point due to a charged particle. The direction of the electric field is the same as the direction of the force that a positive test charge would experience at that point.

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