Ohms law for concentric spherical shells

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the application of Ohm's Law to concentric spherical shells, specifically addressing the resistance of a thin spherical shell. Participants clarify that the diminishing contribution of successive shells is due to the increasing cross-sectional area proportional to r², as stated in Gauss' Law. The formula for the resistance of a thin slab, dR = dx/(σA), is applied to derive the total resistance between two spherical shells of radii a and b. As the radius r approaches infinity, the resistance becomes negligible.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Gauss' Law in electromagnetism
  • Familiarity with Ohm's Law and electrical resistance concepts
  • Knowledge of calculus for integration
  • Basic principles of spherical geometry
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the derivation of resistance in spherical coordinates
  • Learn about the implications of Gauss' Law in electrostatics
  • Explore advanced integration techniques for calculating resistance
  • Investigate the behavior of electric fields in concentric spherical shells
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Physics students, electrical engineers, and anyone interested in the application of Ohm's Law to complex geometries in electromagnetism.

zezima1
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Look at the attached problem with solutions. I don't understand what the author means in c) when he says that succesive shells contribute less and less because the cross sectional area grows proportional to r2. The flux through a closed surface is always the same (Gauss' law). Rather the reason why the b becomes negligible is in my opionion that you are very far away from the shell. Can anyone explain what the author means by this "succesive shells contribute less and less"?
 

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There is an elementary formula for the resistance, dR, of a thin slab of material of thickness dx and cross-sectional area A: dR = [itex]\frac{dx}{σA}[/itex].

See if you can apply this to a thin spherical shell of radius r and thickness dx = dr.

How does the resistance of the shell depend on r? What happens as r goes to ∞?

If you integrate the expression for dR from r = a to r = b you should get the formula for the total resistance of the material that lies between the sphere of radius r = a and the sphere of radius r = b.
 

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