Electrostatics Line Charge question

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on finding the electric field above a line segment with a uniform line charge. A participant expresses confusion about the constant nature of the line charge density (λ) and its apparent disappearance in the solution. Others suggest that the participant should clarify their equations and use LaTeX for better readability. The importance of separating horizontal and vertical components of the electric field is emphasized, along with the need to correctly handle vector magnitudes in integrals. Ultimately, the participant resolves their confusion after recognizing a notation error.
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:
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