Plot 3D graph of electric potential of a charged particle

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
1 reply · 3K views
AdrianMachin
Messages
40
Reaction score
2

Homework Statement


Plot the electric potential ##V(r)## due to a positively charged particle located at the origin of an XY plane.

Homework Equations


##V=\frac 1 {4πε_0} \frac q r##

The Attempt at a Solution


I'm unfamiliar with 3D coordinates at this time, but I like to know how can I plot it using a computer program like Matlab or online tools like WolframAlpha or Mathpix. I'm looking for the formula that I can plug into a software to see the 3D plot, plus an explanation for how to derive that formula. In the attachment, you can see the plot from my textbook (Fundamentals of Physics), but I don't why it's written ##V(r)## where no axes are named ##r##.
 
Attachments
  • plot.png
    plot.png
    30.1 KB · Views: 1,176
Physics news on Phys.org
AdrianMachin said:

Homework Statement


Plot the electric potential ##V(r)## due to a positively charged particle located at the origin of an XY plane.

Homework Equations


##V=\frac 1 {4πε_0} \frac q r##

The Attempt at a Solution


I'm unfamiliar with 3D coordinates at this time, but I like to know how can I plot it using a computer program like Matlab or online tools like WolframAlpha or Mathpix. I'm looking for the formula that I can plug into a software to see the 3D plot, plus an explanation for how to derive that formula. In the attachment, you can see the plot from my textbook (Fundamentals of Physics), but I don't why it's written ##V(r)## where no axes are named ##r##.

I don't have access to Matlab or Mathematica (I use Maple instead), but a simple Google search on the keywords '3d plots in MATLAB turns up several articles on the topic.