How to Find Position as a Function of Time for Accelerated Charged Particles?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around finding the position of an accelerated charged particle as a function of time, using a stationary charged particle as a reference. Participants explore various approaches to derive the relationship between position and time, employing concepts from classical mechanics and electromagnetism.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes their approach using Coulomb's law and Newton's second law to derive the force acting on the moving particle and attempts to relate kinetic energy to work done.
  • Another participant suggests integrating the acceleration equation after multiplying by a factor involving velocity, leading to a formulation for velocity as a function of position.
  • A subsequent post requests clarification on the integration process, indicating uncertainty about separating variables in the derived equation.
  • Another participant explains the separation of variables but appears to have made a typographical error in their explanation, which is pointed out by a later reply.
  • One participant expresses confusion about the integration process, particularly regarding the presence of the time variable in the equation.
  • Another participant asserts that a previous post contained a typo regarding the variables involved in the integration.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion contains multiple viewpoints regarding the integration process and the separation of variables. Participants express uncertainty and seek clarification on specific steps, indicating that consensus on the method has not been reached.

Contextual Notes

Participants have not fully resolved the integration steps or clarified the assumptions underlying their approaches, leading to ongoing confusion about the mathematical treatment of the problem.

Homo sapiens sapiens
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I’m trying to solve the following problem for a long time:
There are two charged particles, one doesn’t move, the other is being accelerated and is initially at rest, I would use the particle that doesn’t move as the referential, this referential has only one dimension, how do I find the position as a function of time.
I tried this approach, by Coloumb’s law the force in the second particle is F=(k*q*Q)/r^2, for simplification I put a C in place of k*q*Q, now I use Newton’s second law, I get a=C/(m*x^2), then I try to put velocity as a function of time, so the work done on the particle as a function of the distance is found by solving the integral of the force as a function of the distance between x and x0(this is the initial position), I got W=(c/x)-(c/x0), knowing that the particle starts at rest, its kinetic energy must be equal to the work done by the electrical force so W=(mv^2)/2, I put velocity as a function of the position, that is v=√((2c/(xm))-(2c/(x0m))), now the idea of all this stuff was to use the relation a=dv/dt to get the position as a function of time, this is what I don’t know how to do and would appreciate someone’s help in solving the problem this way or a different propose for a solution.
 
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You know that from the definition of accelartion:

[tex]\frac{d^2r}{dt^2} = \frac{C}{mr^2}[/tex]

multiply both sides by [itex]2\frac{dr}{dt}[/itex], integrate with respect to r and take the square root:

[tex]\frac{dr}{dt} = \sqrt{\frac{-2C}{mr} + A}[/tex]

Where A is a constant.

Then it's a case of seperating the variables to solve the equation.
 
“Then it's a case of seperating the variables to solve the equation.”
It is this part that I don’t know how to do, could you solve that, please.
 
"Separating the variables" means exactly what it says:
[tex]\frac{dr}{dt} = \sqrt{\frac{-2C}{mr} + A}[/tex]
Now get the variable r on one side, the variable t on the other:

[tex]dr= \sqrt{\frac{-2C}{mr}+A}dt[/tex]
[tex]\frac{dt}{\sqrt{\frac{-2C}{mr}+A}}= dt[/tex]

and integrate both sides.
 
Could you explain to me how you passed from [tex]dr= \sqrt{\frac{-2C}{mr}+A}dt[/tex]
to [tex]\frac{dt}{\sqrt{\frac{-2C}{mr}+A}}= dt[/tex]
, when you talk abut integrating the last equation e have no problem integrating the right side, but on the left side there is a dt so the independent variable is t, and I am to solve the integral between two instants t, but on the function that is being integrated there is no t, this doesn’t makes sense to me.
I’m sorry if I am doing trivial questions, but I know few about calculus, thanks for your help and patience.
 
It's quite simple; HallsofIvy made a typo.
On the left-hand side, it should be dr not dt
 

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