Calculating Electric Field at Point P above Infinite Sheet

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The electric field at point P, located 29.9 cm above an infinite sheet of charge with a surface charge density of 2.29 C/m^2 and a hole of radius 4.49 cm, requires careful calculation. The equations for the electric field due to the disk and the sheet are correctly identified, with the disk contributing negatively and the sheet positively. Adding the two fields is appropriate, but one must account for the opposite signs due to the hole's effect on the sheet's field. The calculations yielded values of 3.64e10 N/C for the disk and 1.30e11 N/C for the sheet, but the final result must reflect the subtraction of the disk's field from the sheet's. Verifying the calculations with tools like WolframAlpha is recommended to ensure accuracy.
kopinator
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What is the electric field at a point P, a distance h = 29.9 cm above an infinite sheet of charge, with a charge distribution of 2.29 C/m^2 and a hole of radius r = 4.49 cm with P directly above the center of the hole, as shown in the figure?

Equations used:
Edisk= (-σ/2ε)[1-(z/sqrt(z^2 + r^2))]
Esheet= +σ/2ε
Enet= ƩE

I converted all the cm into m and plugged the numbers in. I got 3.64e10 N/C for the disk and 1.30e11 N/C for the sheet. I added the two together but my answer was wrong so i tried subtracting and still didn't get the right answer. I thought adding them would've been correct. Am I missing something?
 
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kopinator said:
What is the electric field at a point P, a distance h = 29.9 cm above an infinite sheet of charge, with a charge distribution of 2.29 C/m^2 and a hole of radius r = 4.49 cm with P directly above the center of the hole, as shown in the figure?

Equations used:
Edisk= (-σ/2ε)[1-(z/sqrt(z^2 + r^2))]
Esheet= +σ/2ε
Enet= ƩE

I converted all the cm into m and plugged the numbers in. I got 3.64e10 N/C for the disk and 1.30e11 N/C for the sheet. I added the two together but my answer was wrong so i tried subtracting and still didn't get the right answer. I thought adding them would've been correct. Am I missing something?

Yes, adding your expressions together is correct. You are essentially considering the E field at the point P due to the sheet with surface charge density +σ and subtracting the E field due to the imaginary disk of negative surface charge density -σ.

Alternatively, just subtract the E field due to a disk from the E field due to the plane.
In your end expression, take the limit z>>R, and see if your result makes sense.
 
Disk and sheet should have opposite signs (as removing stuff from a sheet reduces the electric field), so your formulas look right and one of your resulting values should have a minus sign. Add both, and you get a value smaller than for the sheet alone.

Did you check your values with WolframAlpha, Matlab or something similar?
 
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