Isolated Point Charge and Work?

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
2 replies · 3K views
hrf2
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
This is a really abstract question, and I'm absolutely clueless on how to approach it.
I know W= F*d, where F=force and d=distance, as well as W= PEa-PEb.
The question reads:

The diagram shows an isolated point charge. Marked are four paths (A, B, C, and D) from a point (P1) to point (P2). The two points, P1 and P2, are equidistant from the charge. Rank the paths by the work required to move a positive charge from P1 to P2 from least to greatest.
volt_path.png

For some reason I feel like B will be the greatest, but I don't really have any basis for that to be honest.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
hrf2 said:
This is a really abstract question, and I'm absolutely clueless on how to approach it.
I know W= F*d, where F=force and d=distance, as well as W= PEa-PEb.
The question reads:

The diagram shows an isolated point charge. Marked are four paths (A, B, C, and D) from a point (P1) to point (P2). The two points, P1 and P2, are equidistant from the charge. Rank the paths by the work required to move a positive charge from P1 to P2 from least to greatest.
volt_path.png

For some reason I feel like B will be the greatest, but I don't really have any basis for that to be honest.
Welcome to the PF.

What have you learned so far about Conservative Forces and Conservative Fields?
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: hrf2
We've learned about electric fields and electric forces. I know E= ΔV/Δx, where V is voltage and x is distance in meters. And E= F/q where F is force and q is charge. I don't have any notes on "conservative forces or fields" but that also might be just because my professor is using different terminology?