Very quick insulating sphere electric field question

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
1 reply · 4K views
binbagsss
Messages
1,291
Reaction score
12
Given the standard formulas of an insulating sphere, inside and outside respectively:

[1] Q/4πΣσr^2
[2] Qr/4πΣσR^3

- where R referes to the radius of the solid insulating sphere.

Charged paint is spread in a very thin uniform layer over the surface of a plastic sphere o diameter 12.0cm, gicing it a charge of -35*10^-6C, Find E:
a) just outside the paint layer?
b) just inside the paint layer?
c) 5.00cm outside the surface of the paint layer?

My Attempt:

a) just outside: Using [1] with r=6.0cm and Q = -35*10^-6 , I obtain 8.74*10^7N/C , is the correct answer
b) just inside: E = 0 (From Gauss's Law)
c) just outside: Using [1] with r = 5.0cm and R = 6.0cm, I obtain 1.26*10^8N/C, however the correct answer is 2.60*10^7N/C

If anyone could point my in the right direction for c, greatly appreciated, ta =]
 
Physics news on Phys.org
binbagsss said:
Given the standard formulas of an insulating sphere, inside and outside respectively:

[1] Q/4πΣσr^2
[2] Qr/4πΣσR^3

- where R referes to the radius of the solid insulating sphere.
Um, that should be outside and inside respectively because the first equation is for outside and the second equation is for inside.

binbagsss said:
c) just outside: Using [1] with r = 5.0cm and R = 6.0cm, I obtain 1.26*10^8N/C, however the correct answer is 2.60*10^7N/C
Yes, you should be using equation 1, but since you've mentioned R, I'm guessing you actually used equation 2?