How Does Coulomb's Law Apply to a Charged Ring and a Point Charge?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on calculating the electric field at a point on the x-axis due to a charged ring and the force exerted by a point charge placed at that location. The ring has a radius of 2.20 cm and a total charge of +0.145 nC. The electric field's direction is expected to be along the x-axis, with the y-components canceling out due to symmetry. Participants highlight the need for clarity on the ring's orientation in space and confirm that Coulomb's law can be applied by breaking down the components. The absence of a provided figure limits the ability to visualize the problem fully.
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Homework Statement



A ring-shaped conductor with radius a = 2.20 cm has a total positive charge Q = +0.145 nC uniformly distributed around it, as shown in the figure below. The center of the ring is at the origin of coordinates O.

(a) What is the electric field (magnitude and direction) at point P, which is on the x-axis at x = 50.0 cm?

(b) A point charge q = -2.00 µC is placed at the point P described in part (a). What are the magnitude and direction of the force exerted by the charge q on the ring?

The Attempt at a Solution



I only have a couple questions left on my homework, and I got through all of them, but I'm really just not sure what to do on this one. It seems like it's similar to all the others where I would use Coulomb's law to and break it down into components but I'm not sure. Is there a simple way to take into account a ring?
And I am pretty sure that there's not going to be any y magnitude because it will all cancel out, so we're just dealing with the x?
 
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You have stated that the center of the ring is at the origin of coordinates O. In which plane the ring is lying?
You have not posted the figure.
 

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