Here is a fourth way of computing the energy of a uniformly charged

solid sphere: Assemble it like a snowball, layer by layer, each time bringing in aninfinitesimal charge dqfrom far away and smearing it uniformly over the surface,thereby increasing the radius. How much workdWdoes it take to build up the radius by an amountlocalid="1654664956615" dr? Integrate this to find the work necessary to create the entire sphere of radius Rand total charge q.

Short Answer

Expert verified

The work done isW=3q24πε0(5R)

Step by step solution

01

Define function

Write the expression for the potential due to sphere or radius r on the surface is,

V=14πε0qr

Here,qis the total charge on sphere and r is the radius.

02

Determine the expression for the change in the work.

Write the expression for work done,

dW=dqV

Here,dqis the charge brought far away from the sphere and V is the potential due to sphere r radius ron the surface.

Substitute14πε0q¯ror V in above equation.

dW=dq¯14πε0q¯r

The total charge on a sphere of radius r is calculated as follows:

q¯=43πr3p

Here, pis the volume charge density of sphere

The sphere's volume charge density is given by,

p=q43πR3

Here, Ris the radius of the sphere with charge .

Substituteq43πR3for P in the equation.


q¯=43πr3q43πR3=qr3R3

Differentiate the above equation,

Substitute3qR3r2drfor dr andqr3R3forq¯in the equation dW=dq¯14πε0q¯r

dW=14πε0qr3R31r3qR3r2dr=14πε03qR6r4dr

03

Determine expression for the work done.

The amount of effort required generating the whole sphere with radius and total charge is

W=0R14πε03q2R6r4dr=3q24πε0R6r55-00R=3q24πε0R6R55=3q24πε05R

Therefore, work done isW=3q24πε05R.

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