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

A sphere of radius R carries a charge density ρ(r)=kr(where k is a constant). Find the energy of the configuration. Check your answer by calculating it in at least two different ways.

Suppose the plates of a parallel-plate capacitor move closer together by an infinitesimal distance, as a result of their mutual attraction.

(a) Use Eq. 2.52 to express the work done by electrostatic forces, in terms of the fieldE, and the area of the plates, A.

(b) Use Eq. 2.46 to express the energy lost by the field in this process.

(This problem is supposed to be easy, but it contains the embryo of an alternative derivation of Eq. 2.52, using conservation of energy.)

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.

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.]

Suppose an electric field E(x.y,z)has the form

Ex=ax,Ey=0,Ez=0

Where ais 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?

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