- #1
roam
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Homework Statement
According to my textbook, the electric flux through a disk of radius R situated at a height d from the xy plane is given by:
##2 \pi k_0 Q [1- \frac{d}{\sqrt{R^2+d^2}}]##
Where ##k_0 = \frac{1}{4\pi \epsilon_0}##
I'm having some difficulty obtaining this answer.
Homework Equations
Coulomb's law.
Flux ##\Phi = E A##
Where A is the area of the disk, in this case ##A=\pi R^2##.
The Attempt at a Solution
I've attached a diagram I made of the method I am using here:
So ##cos \theta = z/r##, ##r=\sqrt{d^2+x^2}## (x runs from 0 to R):
##E= \frac{1}{4 \pi \epsilon_0} \int^R_0 \frac{2Qd}{(d^2+x^2)^{3/2}} \implies \frac{1}{4 \pi \epsilon_0} \frac{2QR}{d \sqrt{d^2+R^2}}##
Now, the flux is the product:
##\Phi = \frac{1}{4 \pi \epsilon_0} \frac{2QR}{d \sqrt{d^2+R^2}} \pi R^2 = 2 \pi k_0 Q \left( \frac{R^3}{d\sqrt{d^2+R^2}} \right)##
So why does my answer not match the one in the book? What's wrong with my method, and how can I get the correct solution?
Any help is greatly appreciated.