Clueless about electric charges questions;

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating electric fields and flux related to uniform line charges and point charges. A uniform line charge with a density of 6.0 nC/m extending from x = -2.5 to x = 2.5 results in a total charge of 0.3 nC. The electric field at a point 4.0 cm away is calculated using the formula E = kQ / (xp^2 - (1/2L)^2), where xp = (1/2)L. Additionally, the electric field generated by a 2 micro-coulomb charge above a square is computed, but discrepancies arise with the expected flux value. The discussion also touches on calculating volume charge density from electric field measurements at different distances.

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  • Understanding of electric charge and charge density concepts
  • Familiarity with Coulomb's law and electric field calculations
  • Knowledge of electric flux and its relation to electric fields
  • Basic grasp of calculus for deriving electric field equations
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  • Study the derivation of electric field equations for finite line charges
  • Learn about electric flux and Gauss's law in electrostatics
  • Explore the concept of volume charge density and its calculations
  • Review common mistakes in electric field and flux calculations
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Students in physics, particularly those studying electromagnetism, educators teaching electric charge concepts, and anyone seeking to improve their problem-solving skills in electrostatics.

Matt Jacques
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Oh boy, for some reason I'm just not getting this. I must be fouling up some really simple part. He just dives into problems without explaining the derivations and uses of the problems. Forgive my lack of knowledge on use of units.

My questions:

"A uniform line charge extends from x = -2.5 to x = 2.5 and charge density of 6.0 nC/m. a ) find the total charge

Ok, that's easy. That's just Q = 6.0 nC/m * .05 m = .3 * 10^-9

B) Find the electric field at 4.0 cm

The examples infer I should use:

E = kQ / (xp^2 - (1/2L)^2) where xp = (1/2)L

Is that the right formula?

Next question:

A 2 micro-coulomb charge is .2 m above the center of a square of sides .4 m. Find the flux through the square.

I found the electric field at the square with:

E = kQ/ r^2

E = (9*10^9)(2*10^-6) / (.2^2)
E = 450,000

Flux = E*A
Flux = (450,000)(.4^2) = 72,000

However, the book says 37700 ...

Next...

"The electric field at 250 m is 150 n/C and at 400 m it is 170 N/C. Calculate the volume charge density"

I'm just clueless here.

Any help is appreciated. I'll be back for more help soon :(
 
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no one has a clue?
 
Ya for Pro1

For Finite Line of Charge use the formulae

[tex]E_{n}=\frac{\lambda}{4\pi \epsilon_{0} x}(\sin\alpha+sin\beta)[/tex]

Similarly for
[tex]E_{t}=\frac{\lambda}{4\pi \epsilon_{0} x}(\cos\alpha+cos\beta)[/tex]

where alpha & beta are the angles which the point makes with the line perpendicular to the line of charge and the line joing the top point of Charge & bottom point of line charge
 
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