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Chapter 18: Q3Q (page 755)
How can there be a nonzero electric field inside a wire in a circuit? Isn’t the electric field inside a metal always zero?
The field inside a wire in a circuit is non zero due to the absence of an opposing electric field because there is no accumulation of charges anywhere
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The drift speed in a copper wire is for a typical electron current. Calculate the magnitude of the electric field inside the copper wire. The mobility of mobile electrons in copper is . (Note that though the electric field in the wire is very small, it is adequate to push a sizable electron current through the copper wire.)
Why don’t all mobile electrons in a metal have exactly the same speed?
What is the most important general difference between a system in steady state and a system in equilibrium?
The circuit shown in Figure 18.107 consists of a single battery, whose emf is , and three wires made of the same material but having different cross-sectional areas. Each thick wire has a cross-sectional area and is long. The thin wire has a cross-sectional area and is long. In this metal, the electron mobility is , and there are mobile electrons/m3.
(a) Which of the following statements about the circuit in the steady state are true? (1) At location B, the electric field points toward the top of the page. (2) The magnitude of the electric field at locations F and C is the same. (3) The magnitude of the electric field at locations D and F is the same. (4) The electron current at location D is the same as the electron current at location F . (b) Write a correct energy conservation (loop) equation for this circuit, following a path that starts at the negative end of the battery and goes counterclockwise. (c) Write this circuit's correct charge conservation (node) equation. (d) Use the appropriate equation(s), plus the equation relating electron current to electric field, to solve for the magnitudes EDand EF of the electric field at locations D and F . (e) Use the appropriate equation(s) to calculate the electron current at location D in the steady state.
A Nichrome wire 48 cm long and 0.25 mm in diameter is connected to a 1.6 V flashlight battery. What is the electric field inside the wire? Why you don’t have to know how the wire is bent? How would your answer change if the wire diameter change were 0.20 mm? (Not that the electric field in the wire is quiet small compared to the electric field near a charged tape.)
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