Ctrostatics, Gauss’s Law, and Potential

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around problems related to electrostatics, specifically focusing on Gauss’s Law and electric potential. The original poster presents several questions involving electric fields generated by charged objects, including a solid sphere, a line charge, and a cylindrical shell.

Discussion Character

  • Mixed

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to apply Gauss’s Law to determine surface charge density and electric fields, but expresses uncertainty about their calculations and results.
  • Participants provide alternative formulations and integrals to calculate electric fields, questioning the original poster's methods and assumptions.
  • Some participants seek clarification on the equations used and the meaning of certain variables, indicating a need for conceptual understanding.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the original poster's questions, offering different approaches and corrections. There is a mix of agreement on some answers, but also a clear exploration of various interpretations and methods without reaching a consensus.

Contextual Notes

There are indications of potential misunderstandings regarding the application of Gauss’s Law and the definitions of variables in the context of the problems presented. The original poster's calculations are questioned, and assumptions about the geometry and symmetry of the problems are discussed.

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electrostatics, Gauss’s Law, and Potential

Hello. I need some help with the following problems.
4. A solid spherical container has a radius of 15 cm. The electric field 30 cm from the center of this sphere has a magnitude of 800 N/C. What is the surface charge density (sigma) on the sphere?
I did:
EA= q/ e0
E(4)(pi)(r^2) = [sigma(4)(pi)(r^2)] / e0
E= sigma / e0
800(8.85 X 10^-12) = sigma
sigma = 7.08 X 10^-9
But the answer is 2.8 X 10^ -8 C/m^2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. A uniform line charge of linear charge density lambda= 5 nC/m extends from x=0 to x=10 m. The magnitude of the electric field at the point y=12 m on the perpendicular bisector of the finite line of charge is?
I did:
I made a right triangle where 10 m was the length of the horizontal side and 12 m was the length of the vertical side. Then I found the hypotenuse to be 15.62 m
E= lambda / [(2pi)(e0)(r)]
E= (5X 10 ^ -9) / [(2pi)(8.85 X10^-112)(15.62)
E=7.49
But the answer is 2.88 N/C
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16. An infinitely long cylindrical shell of radius 6.0 cm carries a uniform surface charge density sigma = 12 nC/m^2. The electric field at r = 6.1 cm is approximately?
I did:
EA = q/e0
E(2)(pi)(r)(l) = [sigma(2)(pi)(r)(l) ] / e0
E= sigma / e0
E= 1355.93
But the answer is 1.3 kN/c
I don’t know if my answer is wrong or correct because of rounding.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 
Last edited:
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For first question
[tex]\oint \vec{E}\cdot d\vec{A}=\frac{q}{\epsilon}[/tex]
so [tex]q=\epsilon EA[/tex] where [tex]{A}=4 \pi {R}^2[/tex] R= 0.3 m
thus
[tex]\sigma =\frac {q}{4\pi {r}^2}[/tex]
where r= 0.15 m
 
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For second question
[tex]E= \frac{2}{4\pi \epsilon_0} \int_0^5 \frac{\lambda dx}{x^2+y^2}\frac{y}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2}}[/tex]

both the answer of q1 and q2 are correct
 
Last edited:
Psi-String said:
For second question
[tex]E= \frac{2}{4\pi \epsilon_0} \int_0^5 \frac{\lambda dx}{x^2+R^2}\frac{R}{\sqrt{x^2+R^2}}[/tex]
both the answer of q1 and q2 are correct
How did you get that equation? And what do I plug in for x and R? And what do you mean by "both the answer of q1 and q2 are correct"?
 
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I mean that the answer of q1 is [tex]2.8 \times 10^ -8 C/m^2[/tex] and the anwer of q2 is [tex]2.88 N/C[/tex]
The R in the equetion represented for y which is 12m. I get this equetion by [tex]\int \frac{1}{4 \pi \epsilon_0} \frac{dq}{r^2}[/tex] where r is the distance between dq and [tex](5,12)[/tex] and thus [tex]r^2=x^2 + y^2[/tex].
And because of symmetery, we can notice that the horizontal component will be cancled so we just have to integrate the vertical component. That's why [tex]\frac{y}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2}}[/tex] appeared.
 
Last edited:
For the last one, You seem to use the same radius. Electric filed should be

E = sigma r / e.R where r= 6cm, and R= 6.1 cm. e=permitivity of free space.

You will get your answer in N/C. To change to kN/C divide your answer by 1000.

E = 1334 N/C or 1.3 kN/C.

Note that you made the same mistake in your first problem where

E should have been = r^2 sigma / R^2 e0

Learn how to use the gauss' low again because it is important to know the basics.
 

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