Recent content by Kurt Peek

  1. K

    How can a car maintain traction while speeding around a banked curve?

    Hi, An interesting problem! When going through a curve of radius r with speed v_1, you have a centripetal acceleration of v_1^2/r. Hence, according to Newton's law, you need a centripetal force of m v_1^2/r, where m is the mass of the car (this will cancel out later). Now, suppose that...
  2. K

    Examining a differential equation of motion

    Hi JordanGo, As Mindscrape noted, your ODE corresponds to a damped harmonic oscillator with a nonlinear damping term. To be specific, the damping term is the coefficient \beta(x^2-1). If this coefficient is positive, then the damping force will be in the opposite direction of the speed...
  3. K

    Simple dimensional analysis question?

    Hi makeitdone, That's easy: speed. Cheers, Kurt
  4. K

    Electrostatics, infinite concentric cylindric conductors

    Hi Telemachus, I believe you are right to doubt your procedure, since you are obtaining the potential by positing a surface charge, whereas actually the question is to determine the surface charge from the field. My approach would be as follows. First, solve for the potential V(r) using...
  5. K

    How Do You Calculate Electric Potential and Field Components of a Dipole?

    Hi Lancelot59, Although some of your intermediate expressions don't make sense (you can't have an expression like "\theta+a" because \theta is in radians and a is in meters), I do concur with your expression for V(r,\theta). (In the notation I'm used to, your constant k=1/(4 \pi \epsilon_0)...
  6. K

    Fluid Dynamics - Flow through a pipe

    Hi, As Cipherflak says, we can find the answer by logical thinking. It is given that V(r) has a parabolic form, so we posit it has the form V(r)=ar^2+br+c where a, b, and c are constants to be determined. Since we have three unknown constants, we need three conditions. These conditions...
  7. K

    Laplace Transformation Question

    Hi, Indeed, vela, I had forgotten about that technique. Upon investigation I find that it does not make the problem much easier, however. By using the integrating factor technique, I recast the first-order ODE for y(s) into the following form...
  8. K

    Gauss law differential form.

    Hi, Specifically, your field component in the x-direction, E_x, is given by the formula E_x(x)=\frac{1}{\epsilon_0}\int_{d/2}^x{\rho(x')dx'} where \rho is the piecewise defined function given in the previous post. Choosing the lower limit at d/2 ensures the boundary condition mentioned...
  9. K

    Gauss law differential form.

    Hi Bassalisk, Mathematically, \rho(x) is a piecewise defined function which is equal to Ax(d-x) for 0<x<d and zero otherwise. Cheers, Kurt
  10. K

    Gauss law differential form.

    Hi Bassalisk, Thanks for reminding me to check the solution. My solution is indeed equivalent with the one you give, which can be verified by substituting z=d/2 into my equation (or x=z+d/2 into your equation). Although my method using the integral form is the standard procedure taught in...
  11. K

    Laplace Transformation Question

    Hi Applejacks, I verified your calculations, and I think you are on the right track. The -1 does indeed preclude the use of separation of variables to solve the ODE for y(s). If I put that ODE into Maple I get a complicated expression involving the error function, so it does not look like...
  12. K

    Gauss law differential form.

    Hi Bassalisk, Here is how I would solve the problem. Firstly, I would change the coordinate system in order to exploit the symmetry of the problem. Defining the variable z=x-d/2, the charge density becomes: \rho(z)=A\left[\left(\frac{d}{2}\right)^2-z^2\right].To solve the electrostatics...
  13. K

    Explinations needed, second degree linear equations with a constant

    Hi, So you want to solve the second-order differential equation y''+3y'=\cos(t)-2. The corresponding homogeneous equation is y''+3y'=0, the solution of which is C_1+C_2\exp(-3t), where C_1 and C_2 are undetermined coefficients. The forcing function \cos(t)-2 can be expressed as the sum of two...
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