Charge Density and Electric Fields

In summary, the student is seeking help in understanding the missing steps in an example given by their professor in class notes. The example is related to a homework problem and the student is having trouble understanding the answers circled in red. The book and lecture notes do not provide any information on these answers. The student believes that once they understand these numbers, solving the problem will be easy. The student also points out a possible typo in the final solution. They thank the person for their help and appreciate it greatly.
  • #1
hatfarm
8
0
This isn't the normal kind of homework question, I'm more hoping you can help me fill in the missing steps from this example given by our professor in the class notes. The below example is supposed to assist me in solving my homework problem, I understand everything except the answers circled in red below. He completely skips where he came up with them, and I can't really figure it out. The book has nothing related to this at all, and the lecture notes don't have anything on it. Once I have those numbers, solving everything is easy, but I cannot figure out what those numbers represent. Any guidance would be appreciated.



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  • #2
He gets the 2x because the limits of integration are from -x to x, since the gaussian surface goes from -x to x where |x|<W/2. Similarly, the W comes about from integrating from -W/2 to W/2. Though it does look like he made a typo in the final solution, for x>W/2 the unit vector should be positive.
 
  • #3
Thank you for the help. I appreciate it greatly.
 

1. What is charge density?

Charge density refers to the amount of electric charge per unit volume at a given point in space. It is typically represented by the Greek letter rho (ρ) and is measured in units of coulombs per cubic meter (C/m³).

2. How is charge density related to electric fields?

Charge density is directly related to electric fields through the equation ρ = ε0E, where ε0 is the permittivity of free space and E is the electric field. This relationship shows that the electric field at a point is directly proportional to the charge density at that point.

3. What factors affect charge density?

The charge density at a point can be affected by several factors, including the presence of other charges, the distance between charges, and the material properties of the medium in which the charges are located.

4. How does charge density affect the behavior of electric fields?

Charge density plays a crucial role in determining the behavior of electric fields. Higher charge density at a point will result in a stronger electric field and vice versa. Additionally, the distribution of charge density can also affect the direction and shape of the electric field lines.

5. How is charge density measured or calculated?

Charge density can be measured directly using specialized instruments, such as an electron probe microanalyzer. It can also be calculated using the equation ρ = Q/V, where Q is the total charge and V is the volume in which the charge is distributed. In some cases, charge density can also be estimated by observing the behavior of electric fields in the surrounding space.

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