Opposite Charged Plates with Sphere

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves a small sphere suspended between two charged plates, seeking to determine the potential difference required for the sphere to hang at a specific angle with respect to the vertical. The context includes concepts from electrostatics and forces acting on charged objects.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the correctness of the equations used and the values substituted, including the gravitational constant and the conversion of mass from grams to kilograms. There are inquiries about the charge value and its representation in calculations.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants providing feedback on each other's calculations and identifying potential errors in the values used. Some participants have indicated they have resolved their issues, while others continue to seek clarification.

Contextual Notes

There are noted discrepancies in the values of mass and charge, as well as a potential misunderstanding regarding unit conversions. The original poster's attempts have led to confusion regarding the correct application of the equations.

stylez03
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Homework Statement


A small sphere with mass 2.90 g hangs by a thread between two large parallel vertical plates 0.05 m apart. The plates are insulating and have uniform surface charge densities + \sigma and - \sigma . The charge on the sphere is q = 9.70×10^6 C.

What potential difference between the plates will cause the thread to assume an angle of 30.0 deg with the vertical

Homework Equations



[tex]Delta(V) = Ed = \frac {F_{elec} * d} {q} = \frac {(mg)*(d)*tan(30)} {q}[/tex]

The Attempt at a Solution



[tex]\frac {(2.90*8.90)*(0.05)*tan(30)} {9.70*10^{-6}}[/tex]

The online program complains that its wrong, I'm wondering is the equation correct?
 
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stylez03 said:

Homework Statement


A small sphere with mass 2.90 g hangs by a thread between two large parallel vertical plates 0.05 m apart. The plates are insulating and have uniform surface charge densities + \sigma and - \sigma . The charge on the sphere is q = 9.70×10^6 C.

What potential difference between the plates will cause the thread to assume an angle of 30.0 deg with the vertical

Homework Equations



[tex]Delta(V) = Ed = \frac {F_{elec} * d} {q} = \frac {(mg)*(d)*tan(30)} {q}[/tex]

The Attempt at a Solution



[tex]\frac {(2.90*8.90)*(0.05)*tan(30)} {9.70*10^{-6}}[/tex]

The online program complains that its wrong, I'm wondering is the equation correct?

g=9.8 not 8.9?
 
lylos said:
g=9.8 not 8.9?

That was actually a typo, I used 9.8 and still no luck.

The computation comes out to:

[tex]-9.38*10^{-7}[/tex]

Can anyone confirm this?
 
Last edited:
Convert 2.90 from g to kg. Also you are using 9.70×10^-6 C in the denominator, but the initial value was 9.70×10^6 C.
 
ranger said:
Convert 2.90 from g to kg. Also you are using 9.70×10^-6 C in the denominator, but the initial value was 9.70×10^6 C.

The mass was what threw it off, actually Q was 10^-6, I guess copying it over from the flash page removed the negative, though I had that in my solution. Also I figured out the answer. THanks!
 
Last edited:
http://www.krellinst.org/UCES/archive/resources/trig/node10.html"

To convert from degrees to radians, multiply degrees by pi/180.

To convert from radians to degrees, multiply by 180/pi.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

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