Electrostatics Line Charge question

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the electric field at a distance z above one end of a straight line segment with a uniform line charge λ. The problem involves understanding the implications of the line charge on the electric field and the integration process involved in the calculation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the role of the line charge λ in the integral and question why it seems to disappear from the final equation. There are inquiries about the separation of horizontal and vertical components of the electric field.

Discussion Status

The discussion includes attempts to clarify the mathematical setup and the assumptions made regarding the line charge. Some participants are exploring the implications of vector magnitudes in the integration process. There is no explicit consensus, but various interpretations and clarifications are being explored.

Contextual Notes

Participants note issues with the clarity of the original working and suggest using LaTeX for better readability. There are indications of potential misunderstandings regarding the treatment of the line charge in the integral.

grandpa2390
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Homework Statement


Find the Electric field a distance z above one end of a straight line segment of length L that carries a uniform line charge λ

Homework Equations


Complicated formula due to lack of font for the notation used by the author of the book. so I wrote it out. I did my best to differentiate between the script r and pi.

just in case I did a terrible job, only the first "r" is pi, the rest are script r's

The Attempt at a Solution



My professor says during the lecture while doing this problem that the λ is not dependent on r so is a constant and can be pulled out of the integral, but then it also just disappears from the problem completely.

Why?

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Your working is hard to read. It would be better if you typed the equations. You can use LaTeX.
https://www.physicsforums.com/help/latexhelp/
grandpa2390 said:
but then it also just disappears from the problem completely.
It shouldn't.
You need to first find the horizontal and vertical components of the field separately.
 
grandpa2390 said:
but then it also just disappears from the problem completely.
Did your professor say that, or is it something you observe? It is still there in your final equation.
 
Inside your integral there is a vector and it's magnitude is not 1 (as one can see in the drawing) so this magnitude will be there multiplying the argument and that is not right. You should be carefull when solving the integral.

Sorry i didn't see the hat over the u. That indicates that it is a unity vector.
 
nvm
I got it.
 
Last edited:
sry
 

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