Use your result in Prob. 2.7 to find the field inside and outside a solidsphere of radius Rthat carries a uniform volume charge densityp.Express your answers in terms of the total charge of the sphere,q.Draw a graph of lEIas a function of the distance from the center.

Short Answer

Expert verified

The electric field outside the sphere is obtained as E=q4πε0r2r^. The electric field inside the sphere is obtained as E=qr4πε0R3.The plot of localid="1654510315925" Eversus localid="1654510306521" ris plotting using the equation of obtained electric field is shown below

Step by step solution

01

Describe the given information

The radius of sphere is R.

The sphere carries a uniform volume chargep.

02

Define the coulomb’s law

Electric field due to charge qat a distance ris proportional to the charge qand inversely proportional to the square of the distance r as,

E=14πε0qr2

03

Obtain the electric field outside the sphere

The sphere of radius Ris divided into small spherical shell of thickness dxat a radius xfrom the center, as shown below:

The differential charge dqtis the product of charge density pand the differential volume dvwritten as dq=pdV. Thus the differential electric field is obtained as

dE=14πε04πx2pdxr2=px2ε0r2dx

Integrate above differential integral as,

E=dE=px2ε0r2dx=pR33ε0r2

The volume charge density pis the ratio of total charge to the volume of the sphere, that is, p=q43πR3.

Substitute q43πR3for pinto E=pR33εr2

E=q43πR3R33ε0r2=q4πε0r2r^

Thus, the electric field outside the sphere is obtained asq4πε0r2r^

04

Obtain the electric field inside the sphere

The differential charge dqtis the product of charge density pand the differential volume dVwritten asdq=pdV. Thus the differential electric field is obtained as

dE=14πε04πx2pdxr2=px2ε0r2dx

Integrate above differential integral as,

E=dE=px2ε0r2dx=pε0r20Rx2dx=pε0r2r33

Simplify further as

E=pr3ε0=qr4π0R3

Thus, the electric field inside the sphere is obtained asE=qr4π0R3.

The plot of Eversus ris plotting using the equation of obtained electric field is shown below:

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Most popular questions from this chapter

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 q24πε0R]

(a) Consider an equilateral triangle, inscribed in a circle of radius a,with a point charge qat each vertex. The electric field is zero (obviously) at the center, but (surprisingly) there are three otherpoints inside the triangle where the field is zero. Where are they? [Answer: r= 0.285 a-you'llprobably need a computer to get it.]

(b) For a regular n-sided polygon there are npoints (in addition to the center) where the field is zero. Find their distance from the center for n= 4 and n= 5. What do you suppose happens as n?

An inverted hemispherical bowl of radius R carries a uniform surface charge density σ. Find the potential difference between the "north pole" and the center.

An infinite plane slab, of thickness 2d,carries a uniform volumecharge density p (Fig. 2.27). Find the electric field, as a function of y,where y = 0 at the center. Plot Eversus y,calling Epositive when it points in the +ydirection and negative when it points in the -y direction.

Find the electric field a distance zabove the center of a flat circular disk of radius R(Fig. 2.1 0) that carries a uniform surface charge a.What does your formula give in the limit R? Also check the case localid="1654687175238" zR.

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