Force on a charge at the center of a non-uniform charge density cylinder

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the force on a charge Q located at the center of a non-uniformly charged cylinder with a volume charge density described by P + P0 + Bz, where P0 and B are constants. The user correctly identifies the need to compute the electric field generated by the cylinder before determining the force. The integration process involves evaluating the electric field contributions from differential elements of the cylinder, leading to complex integrals that may require computational tools like Mathematica for evaluation.

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  • Understanding of electric fields and forces in electrostatics
  • Familiarity with calculus, particularly integration techniques
  • Knowledge of charge density concepts and their implications in physics
  • Experience with computational tools such as Mathematica for solving complex integrals
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mjordan2nd
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Homework Statement


Consider a cylinder, radius R and length L. Suppose the cylinder is charged with a volume charge given by P+P0 + Bz, where p0 and B are constants. Find the force on a charge Q at the center of the cylinder.


Homework Equations



E=q/4*pi*e*r^2

The Attempt at a Solution



I first found the electric field contribution of a disk with uniform charge density on a point z above the center of the disk, where e is epsilon-not and o is the charge density on the disk.

[tex]\int \frac{z r o 2 \pi }{4 \pi e \left(r^2+z^2\right)^{3/2}} \, dr[/tex]

The indefinite integral gave me

[tex]-\frac{o z}{2 e \sqrt{r^2+z^2}}[/tex]

Evaluating from 0 to R gave me

(oz/2e)*(1/z-(z^2+r^2)^-1)

I then used this to evaluate the integral from -z/2 to z/2 on the cylinder, and came up with this expression:

[tex]\int_{-\frac{L}{2}}^{\frac{L}{2}} \left(\left(\frac{L}{2}+z\right) b+p\right) z \left(\frac{1}{z}-\frac{1}{\sqrt{r^2+z^2}}\right) \, dz[/tex]

I have two questions:

Have I gone about this problem correctly so far, and how do I proceed from here. I don't know how to evaluate the integral. I figured I'd calculate the E-field first and then the force.

Thanks for any help...
 
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Plugging this into mathematica gives

[tex]\text{If}\left[\text{Im}\left[\frac{r}{L}\right]\geq \frac{1}{2}\left\|\text{Im}\left[\frac{r}{L}\right]\leq -\frac{1}{2}\right\|\text{Re}\left[\frac{r}{L}\right]\neq 0,\frac{-2 b L^3-8 b L r^2+4 b L^2 \sqrt{L^2+4 r^2}+8 L p \sqrt{L^2+4 r^2}-4 b r^2 \sqrt{L^2+4 r^2} \text{Log}[2]+b r^2 \sqrt{L^2+4 r^2} \text{Log}[16]-4 b r^2 \sqrt{L^2+4 r^2} \text{Log}\left[-L+\sqrt{L^2+4 r^2}\right]+4 b r^2 \sqrt{L^2+4 r^2} \text{Log}\left[L+\sqrt{L^2+4 r^2}\right]}{8 \sqrt{L^2+4 r^2}},\text{Integrate}\left[\left(b \left(\frac{L}{2}+z\right)+p\right) \left(1-\frac{z}{\sqrt{z^2+r^2}}\right),\left\{z,-\frac{L}{2},\frac{L}{2}\right\},\text{Assumptions}\to !\left(\text{Im}\left[\frac{r}{L}\right]\geq \frac{1}{2}\left\|\text{Im}\left[\frac{r}{L}\right]\leq -\frac{1}{2}\right\|\text{Re}\left[\frac{r}{L}\right]\neq 0\right)\right]\right][/tex]

The indefinite integral gives [tex](-(2 p + b (L + z)) (r^2 + z (z - Sqrt[r^2 + z^2])) + <br /> b r^2 Sqrt[r^2 + z^2] Log[z + Sqrt[r^2 + z^2]])/(2 Sqrt[r^2 + z^2])[/tex]

I could evaluate the indefinite but I'm not sure if I've set the problem up correctly. Again, any help would be appreciated.
 

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