- #1
Saketh
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A friend of mine has given me a physics problem to solve. Here it is:
[tex]mg\tan{\theta} = \frac{q^2}{4\pi \epsilon_0 x^2}[/tex]
Since [itex]x << \ell[/itex], I concluded that [itex]\sin{\theta} \approx \tan{\theta}[/itex]. I rewrote the above force equation with sin instead of tan.
After this, I started doing things randomly. At first, I tried using angular speed with [itex]\ell[/itex] as the radius of rotation, but that seemed unnecessarily complicated.
So I went back and differentiated both sides of the first equation. I don't know if this is correct, but I let [itex]\cos{\theta}[/itex] be 1 since [itex]\theta \approx 0[/itex]. So, using the quotient rule, I had:
[tex]mg = \frac{1}{2\pi \epsilon_0}\frac{q^2(\frac{dx}{dt}) - q\frac{dq}{dt}}{x^3}[/tex]
At this point, since [itex]\frac{dx}{dt} = \frac{a}{\sqrt{x}}[/itex], I started substituting things in. However, I ended up with charge as a function of time, distance as a function of time, and the time derivative of the charge function all in one equation - unsolvable.
The other way that I tried it was to start from the premise that [itex]\ell \frac{d\theta}{dt} = \frac{a}{\sqrt{x}}[/itex] and go from there. But I don't know if this is the correct way either.
Basically, I have no idea what I'm doing. My friend said this is an easy problem, but I am stumped. Am I approaching this incorrectly?
Thanks for the assistance.
Two small equally charged spheres, each of mass [itex]m[/itex], are suspended from the same point by silk threads of length [itex]\ell[/itex]. The distance between the spheres [itex]x << \ell[/itex]. Find the rate [tex]\frac{dq}{dt}[/tex] with which the charge leaks off each sphere if their approach velocity varies as [tex]v = \frac{a}{\sqrt{x}}[/tex], where [itex]a[/itex] is a constant.
I started by writing down the forces:[tex]mg\tan{\theta} = \frac{q^2}{4\pi \epsilon_0 x^2}[/tex]
Since [itex]x << \ell[/itex], I concluded that [itex]\sin{\theta} \approx \tan{\theta}[/itex]. I rewrote the above force equation with sin instead of tan.
After this, I started doing things randomly. At first, I tried using angular speed with [itex]\ell[/itex] as the radius of rotation, but that seemed unnecessarily complicated.
So I went back and differentiated both sides of the first equation. I don't know if this is correct, but I let [itex]\cos{\theta}[/itex] be 1 since [itex]\theta \approx 0[/itex]. So, using the quotient rule, I had:
[tex]mg = \frac{1}{2\pi \epsilon_0}\frac{q^2(\frac{dx}{dt}) - q\frac{dq}{dt}}{x^3}[/tex]
At this point, since [itex]\frac{dx}{dt} = \frac{a}{\sqrt{x}}[/itex], I started substituting things in. However, I ended up with charge as a function of time, distance as a function of time, and the time derivative of the charge function all in one equation - unsolvable.
The other way that I tried it was to start from the premise that [itex]\ell \frac{d\theta}{dt} = \frac{a}{\sqrt{x}}[/itex] and go from there. But I don't know if this is the correct way either.
Basically, I have no idea what I'm doing. My friend said this is an easy problem, but I am stumped. Am I approaching this incorrectly?
Thanks for the assistance.
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