Chapter 2: Q13P (page 76)
Find the electric field a distancefrom an infinitely long straight wire that carries a uniform line charge) ., Compare Eq. 2.9
Short Answer
The electric field at a distancefrom infinitely long wire is
Chapter 2: Q13P (page 76)
Find the electric field a distancefrom an infinitely long straight wire that carries a uniform line charge) ., Compare Eq. 2.9
The electric field at a distancefrom infinitely long wire is
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Get started for freeImagine that new and extraordinarily precise measurements have revealed an error in Coulomb's law. The actual force of interaction between two point charges is found to be
where λ is a new constant of nature (it has dimensions of length, obviously, and is a huge number—say half the radius of the known universe—so that the correction is small, which is why no one ever noticed the discrepancy before). You are charged with the task of reformulating electrostatics to accommodate the new discovery. Assume the principle of superposition still holds.
a. What is the electric field of a charge distribution ρ (replacing Eq. 2.8)?
b. Does this electric field admit a scalar potential? Explain briefly how you reached your conclusion. (No formal proof necessary—just a persuasive argument.)
c. Find the potential of a point charge q—the analog to Eq. 2.26. (If your answer to (b) was "no," better go back and change it!) Use ∞ as your reference point.
d. For a point charge q at the origin, show that
where S is the surface, V the volume, of any sphere centered at q.
e. Show that this result generalizes:
for any charge distribution. (This is the next best thing to Gauss's Law, in the new "electrostatics.”)
f. Draw the triangle diagram (like Fig. 2.35) for this world, putting in all the appropriate formulas. (Think of Poisson's equation as the formula for ρ in terms of V, and Gauss's law (differential form) as an equation for ρ in terms of E.)
g. Show that some of the charge on a conductor distributes itself (uniformly!) over the volume, with the remainder on the surface. [Hint: E is still zero, inside a conductor.]
Suppose an electric field has the form
role="math" localid="1657526371205"
Where is a constant. What is the charge density? How do you account for the fact that the field points in a particular direction, when the charge density is uniform?
A metal sphere of radius R ,carrying charge q ,is surrounded by a
thick concentric metal shell (inner radius a,outer radius b,as in Fig. 2.48). The
shell carries no net charge.
(a) Find the surface charge density at R ,at a ,and at b .
(b) Find the potential at the center, using infinity as the reference point.
(c) Now the outer surface is touched to a grounding wire, which drains off charge
and lowers its potential to zero (same as at infinity). How do your answers to (a) and (b) change?
What is the minimum-energy configuration for a system ofNequal
point charges placed on or inside a circle of radius R? Because the charge on
a conductor goes to the surface, you might think theNcharges would arrange
themselves (uniformly) around the circumference. Show (to the contrary) that for
N = 12 it is better to place 11 on the circumference and one at the center. How about for N = 11 (is the energy lower if you put all 11 around the circumference, or if you put 10 on the circumference and one at the center)? [Hint: Do it numerically-you'll need at least 4 significant digits. Express all energies as multiples of ]
Find the potential on the axis of a uniformly charged solid cylinder,
a distance zfrom the center. The length of the cylinder is L, its radius is R, and
the charge density is p. Use your result to calculate the electric field at this point.
(Assume that .)
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