Electric field of a non-conducting shell

motyapa
Messages
4
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



Not sure if I'm doing this problem correctly (no answer key for these practice problems). I just want to check with people that know this material well enough.

A hollow spherical non-conducting shell of inner radius a and outer radius b carries charge density p = C/r^2 in the region a =< r =< b. Find the electric field in the following regions

r < a
a < r < b
r > b

Homework Equations


[/B]
[tex]\varepsilon_0\int E \cdot dA = Qenc[/tex]

The Attempt at a Solution


[/B]
for r < a

Qenc = 0 so E = 0

for a < r < b

[tex]Qenc = \int _a^r pdV[/tex]

Volume of a sphere with radius r [tex]4/3 \pi r^3[/tex]

so then [tex]dV = 4\pi r^2 dr[/tex]

which means [tex]Qenc = \int_a^r C/r^2 4\pi r^2 dr[/tex] or [tex]\int_a^r4C \pi dr[/tex]

Solving I get [tex]Qenc = 4\pi C (r-a)[/tex]

Now that I have Qenc I can use

[tex]\varepsilon_0\int E \cdot dA = Qenc[/tex]

using a gaussian surface of a sphere with radius r, I do

[tex]\varepsilon_0EA = 4\pi C (r-a)[/tex]

A = 4\pi r^2 so that leaves me with

[tex]E = C(r-a)/r^2\varepsilon_0[/tex]

for r > b

I used a similar process except I did

[tex]Qenc = \int _a^b pdV[/tex]

making [tex]Qenc = 4\pi C (b-a)[/tex]

so then [tex]E = C(b-a)/r^2\varepsilon_0[/tex]while my answers make sense to me, I'd like to make sure I'm not making any mistakes because this question is harder than anything I've done so far!
 
It is correct, nice work!
 

Similar threads

Replies
6
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
957
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
5K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
1K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
Replies
12
Views
2K
Replies
11
Views
2K