- #1
Inquisitive Student
- 10
- 0
Homework Statement
Find the total amount of energy of a charge (q) initially at rest placed at the left plate of a parallel plate capacitor. The left plate is at V = 0, the right plate at V = V0 and the plates are a distance L apart.
Homework Equations
Etot = 1/2 mv2 + qφ(x).
φ(x) = Vx/L
The Attempt at a Solution
Since energy is conserved:
E = Einitial = 1/2 m(vinitial)2 + qφ(0) = 0 + 0 = 0.
(I chose x = 0 to be the left plate)
So the total energy that the charge has is 0 everywhere? How does the charge even move at all if it has no energy to begin with?