Electric Field due to two circular line charges

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the electric field and potential due to two circular line charges centered at the origin in the xy-plane. Participants share their approaches to using Coulomb's Law for the electric field on the z-axis and the potential along the same axis, with some confusion about the integration limits and charge density variables. Clarifications are provided regarding the need to treat each ring separately and to express the electric field in terms of their respective charges. The conversation also touches on the differentiation of potential to find the electric field and the application of symmetry in simplifying calculations for a single circular line charge split into positive and negative halves. Overall, the thread emphasizes the importance of correctly applying formulas and understanding the physical meaning behind the variables involved.
  • #51
Look for something like ##\hat{r} = \ldots \hat{x} + \ldots \hat{y} + \ldots \hat{z}##.
 
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  • #52
Yeah so:

##\hat{r}=cos{\theta}sin\phi\hat{x}+sin{\theta}cos\phi\hat{y}+cos\phi\hat{z}##
 
  • #53
No, check again whether you copied it right.
 
  • #54
Sorry don't know how I did that:

##\hat{r}=sin{\theta}cos\phi\hat{x}+sin{\theta}sin\phi\hat{y}+cos\phi\hat{z}##
 
  • #55
Now put that into the integral in comment #44 and do the integration, remember the integration variable is ##\phi## while ##\theta## is a constant (I leave to you to express the sine or cosine of ##\theta## in terms of known quantities). You should find that there are only two components surviving the integration. Upon considering (no calculation is needed) the contribution from the other half of the ring, one more component should vanish, and the only remaining components should be enhanched by a factor of two. Good luck.
 
  • #56
Quick question, those the upper limit stay as ##\phi##? Thanks for all the help with this question, hopefully it all pays off.
 
  • #57
That's a mistake, see again I have corrected it.
 
  • #58
What I end up with is:

##E_+=\frac{Q}{2\pi\epsilon_0} \frac{1}{\sqrt{a^2+z^2}}##

Is this the answer I should've gotten?
 
  • #59
Obviously that can't be right answer as the unit doesn't match that of an electric field.
 
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