A hollow metal sphere has inner radiusaand outer radius . The hollow sphere has charge+2Q. A point charge+Qsits at the center of the hollow sphere.

a. Determine the electric fields in the three regions ra,a<r<b, and rb.

b. How much charge is on the inside surface of the hollow sphere?On the exterior surface?

Short Answer

Expert verified

a.Three regions have electric fieldsEra=14πϵoQr2,Ea<r<b=0and Erb=14πϵo3Qr2.

b.There is electricity in the interior cavity is-Qand the external surface is+3Q.

Step by step solution

01

Calculation for electric field in Er≤a(part a)

(a).

The electric flux is the quantity of electricity that flows through a closed surface.

Gauss's law states that the electric field passing through a surface is proportional to the charge within it.

The electric flux Φeis,

Φe=EA=Qinϵo

E=QinϵoA

For distancelocalid="1648728179590" ra,the charge enclosed islocalid="1648728194274" +Q.

ChargeQinin the sphere is,

Qin=+Q

The area is,

A=4πr2.

So,

Era=QinϵoA

=Qϵo4πr2

=14πϵoQr2

02

Calculation of electric field inEa<r<bandEr≥bpart(a) solution

(a).

For distance a<r<bis inside the conductor.

Inside the conductor, there is no electric field.

Ea<r<b=0

For distance localid="1648915677849" rb,

The charge enclosed is localid="1648915682412" +Qandlocalid="1648915687074" +2Q.

So,

Qin=2Q+Q=3Q

The area is,

A=4πr2.

=3Qϵo4πr2

=14πϵo3Qr2

03

Calculation for charge on the inner and outer surface of sphere (part b)

(b).

The cavity's positive charge +Qcauses a negative charge of the same magnitude on the cavity's inner surface.

As a result, the charge on the cavity's inner surface is the same magnitude as the charge within, but in the opposite direction.

Inner surface charge is,

-Q

The sphere has chargelocalid="1648731642219" +2Q.

And the inner surface of the sphere has chargelocalid="1648731651493" -Q.

On the outside surface,

The total charge becomes,

2Q-(-Q)=+3Q

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Most popular questions from this chapter

A sphere of radius Rhas total charge Q. The volume charge density C/m3within the sphere is

ρ=ρ01-rR

This charge density decreases linearly from \(\rho_{0}\) at the center to zero at the edge of the sphere.

a. Show that ρ0=3Q/πR3.

b. Show that the electric field inside the sphere points radially outward with magnitude

E=Qr4πϵ0R34-3rR

A 10nCcharge is at the center of a2.0m×2.0m×2.0mcube. What is the electric flux through the top surface of the cube?

A long cylinder with radius band volume charge density ρhas a spherical hole with radius a<b centered on the axis of the cylinder. What is the electric field strength inside the hole at radial distance r<a in a plane that is perpendicular to the cylinder through the center of the hole?

All examples of Gauss's law have used highly symmetric surfaces where the flux integral is either zero or EA. Yet we've claimed that the net Φe=Qin/ϵ0is independent of the surface. This is worth checking. FIGURE CP24.57 shows a cube of edge length Lcentered on a long thin wire with linear charge density λ. The flux through one face of the cube is not simply EA because, in this case, the electric field varies in both strength and direction. But you can calculate the flux by actually doing the flux integral.

a. Consider the face parallel to the yz-plane. Define area dAas a strip of width dyand height Lwith the vector pointing in the x-direction. One such strip is located at position localid="1648838849592" y. Use the known electric field of a wire to calculate the electric flux localid="1648838912266" dΦthrough this little area. Your expression should be written in terms of y, which is a variable, and various constants. It should not explicitly contain any angles.

b. Now integrate dΦto find the total flux through this face.

c. Finally, show that the net flux through the cube is Φe=Qin/ϵ0.

What is the electric flux through the surface shown in FIGURE EX24.9?

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