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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Most popular questions from this chapter

Two infinitely long wires running parallel to the x axis carry uniform

charge densities +λand -λ.

(a) Find the potential at any point (x,y,z)using the origin as your reference.

(b) Show that the equipotential surfaces are circular cylinders, and locate the axis

and radius of the cylinder corresponding to a given potential V0.

Imagine 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

F=14πε0q1q2r2(1+rλ)e(rλ)r^

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

SE.da+1λ2VVdτ=1ε0q

where S is the surface, V the volume, of any sphere centered at q.

e. Show that this result generalizes:

SE.da+1λ2VVdτ=1ε0Qenc

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.]

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 σat 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?

Question: If the electric field in some region is given (in spherical coordinates)

by the expression

E(r)=kr[3r^+2sinθcosθsinϕθ^+sinθcosϕϕ^]

for some constant , what is the charge density?

We know that the charge on a conductor goes to the surface, but just

how it distributes itself there is not easy to determine. One famous example in which the surface charge density can be calculated explicitly is the ellipsoid:

x2a2+y2b2+z2c2=1

In this case15

σ=Q4πabc(x2a4+y2b4+z2c4=1)-1/2

(2.57) where is the total charge. By choosing appropriate values for a,band c. obtain (from Eq. 2.57):

(a) the net (both sides) surface charge a (r)density on a circular disk of radius R;(b) the net surface charge density a (x) on an infinite conducting "ribbon" in the xyplane, which straddles theyaxis from x=-ato x=a(let A be the total charge per unit length of ribbon);

(c) the net charge per unit length λ(x) on a conducting "needle," running from x= -ato x= a . In each case, sketch the graph of your result.

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