Potential Difference b/w Sphere & Cond. Shell | Electrostats

[hellboydvd]

From Electrostatics:

A solid conducting sphere of charge Q is surrounded by an uncharged concentric conducting spherical shell. The potential difference between the sphere and the shell is V. If the shell is now given a charge of -3 Q , what is the new potential difference between them?

 

[dipstik]

you need to read the rules and post this in the HW section (this might get moved)

show what you have done and tell us where you are getting lost. you might want to begin with V=integral of E wrt r. use some gauss law stuff.

 

[nlightner]

The new potential difference between the sphere and the shell would be V/4. This can be explained by the principle of superposition, which states that the total potential at any point is the sum of the individual potentials due to each charge. In this case, the potential difference between the sphere and the shell is due to the charge Q on the sphere. When the shell is given a charge of -3Q, it creates an electric field that cancels out a portion of the electric field from the sphere, resulting in a decrease in potential difference. The new potential difference is one-fourth of the original because the charge on the shell is three times the charge on the sphere, and the potential is directly proportional to the charge. Therefore, the new potential difference is V/4.