Electric Field inside a charged ring

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around determining the electric field inside a charged ring in a two-dimensional context. The original poster questions the nature of the electric field, particularly whether it is zero based on the potential being constant within the ring.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the assumption that the electric field is zero due to constant potential and discuss the implications of this assumption. There are inquiries about the electric field at the center versus off-center points, and the challenges of integrating to find the electric field are noted.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants questioning the original poster's assumptions and suggesting methods to approach the problem, such as considering symmetry and vector calculus. There is no explicit consensus yet, as various interpretations and methods are being explored.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the complexity of integrating to find the electric field and the potential difficulties in the calculations involved. The original poster's assumption about the electric field being zero is under scrutiny.

yeezyseason3
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Homework Statement


Given a charged ring in 2-d, what is the e-field inside the ring?

Homework Equations


Epoint = kq/r^2

The Attempt at a Solution


This isn't a homework question, but more of a problem I keep running into whenever I think about it. I assumed it was 0. I came to this conclusion because the gradient of potential is electric field, and potential within a ring is constant, therefore electric field is 0.
 
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You can check by considering that the electric field is a vector... the field dead center is easy, you are wondering about off-center right?
 
Simon Bridge said:
You can check by considering that the electric field is a vector... the field dead center is easy, you are wondering about off-center right?
Yea I am, I tried integrating and it got really messy, I assumed I was doing something wrong and instead assumed that potential is constant and hence e field is 0.
 
You "assumed" the potential was constant?
Didn't you calculate it?

Trying to do the vector calculus is nasty - try exploiting the line of symmetry through the center of the ring and the point you want to find the field for ... if you integrate equal angles either side of that line for a short arc, you should be able to find another similar arc on the opposite side that will integrate to equal and opposite field.
 
yeezyseason3 said:
I tried integrating and it got really messy
If you show what you did, perhaps we can help ?
 

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