- #1
erik-the-red
- 89
- 1
Question:
Electric charge is distributed uniformly along each side of a square. Two adjacent sides have positive charge with total charge + Q on each. Each side of the square has length a.
Image at bottom.
Part A:
Suppose the other two sides have negative charge with total charge - Q on each. What is the x-component of the net electric field at the center of the square? Give your answer in terms of Q, a, and epsilon_0.
The electric field at the origin would point away from the positive charge and point towards the negative charge. The x-components would both be in the -x direction and equal in magnitude.
I thought all I had to do was double the equation for an electric field with Q as the charge and (.5a) as the distance.
My answer was - (2)*(Q) / (Pi* a^(2) * (epsilon_0).
Because this is a Mastering Physics question and I was close, my feedback was "Your answer is off by a multiplicative factor."
What did I do wrong?
Electric charge is distributed uniformly along each side of a square. Two adjacent sides have positive charge with total charge + Q on each. Each side of the square has length a.
Image at bottom.
Part A:
Suppose the other two sides have negative charge with total charge - Q on each. What is the x-component of the net electric field at the center of the square? Give your answer in terms of Q, a, and epsilon_0.
The electric field at the origin would point away from the positive charge and point towards the negative charge. The x-components would both be in the -x direction and equal in magnitude.
I thought all I had to do was double the equation for an electric field with Q as the charge and (.5a) as the distance.
My answer was - (2)*(Q) / (Pi* a^(2) * (epsilon_0).
Because this is a Mastering Physics question and I was close, my feedback was "Your answer is off by a multiplicative factor."
What did I do wrong?