- #1
Willa
- 23
- 0
I'm stuck on a question involving dipoles and what I am guessing to be the method of images...here goes:
The electrical system of a thundercloud can be represented by a vertical dipole consisting of a charge +40C at a height of 10km and a charge of -40C vertically below it at a height of 6km. What is the electric field at the ground immediately below the cloud, treating the ground as a perfect conductor?
To tackle this question I tried using the method of images to create an image dipole on the other side of the ground. Then using the formula for the E field of a dipole:
E = 1/(4pie0r^5)(3p.rr - r^2p)
Summing the two dipole electric fields, and taking into account the coefficient in the r must go to 0 so that there is no horizontal electric field, I get:
E = -p/(2pie0r^3)
But using the values given, I do not get the answer which is supposed to be 12.8kV, what have I done wrong?
The electrical system of a thundercloud can be represented by a vertical dipole consisting of a charge +40C at a height of 10km and a charge of -40C vertically below it at a height of 6km. What is the electric field at the ground immediately below the cloud, treating the ground as a perfect conductor?
To tackle this question I tried using the method of images to create an image dipole on the other side of the ground. Then using the formula for the E field of a dipole:
E = 1/(4pie0r^5)(3p.rr - r^2p)
Summing the two dipole electric fields, and taking into account the coefficient in the r must go to 0 so that there is no horizontal electric field, I get:
E = -p/(2pie0r^3)
But using the values given, I do not get the answer which is supposed to be 12.8kV, what have I done wrong?