Solutions to Review paper

1. An electron gun creates a beam of electrons moving horizontally with a speed of 3.3 ×
107 m s-1. The electrons enter two parallel electrodes of length 2.0 cm, where the electric
field is E = 5.0 × 104 N C-1 downwards. In which direction and by what angle is the
electron beam deflected by the electrodes?

+++++++++++++++ 

v = 3.3 × 107 m s-1

--------------------

Solution
When the electron is within the plates, the force on the electron is qE = 1.6 x 10 -19 C x
5.0 x 104 N C-1
F = 8.0 x 10-15 N (directed upwards)
Acceleration of the electron (directed upwards) = F/m = 8.78 x 10 15 m/s2
There is no acceleration in the horizontal direction.
Writing the kinematical equations for both x and y directions as function of time t , using
x = xo + voxt + ½ axt2 and y = yo + voyt + ½ ayt2 we get,

x = (3.3 × 107 m s-1) t

y = ½ (8.78 x 1015 m/s2) t2

The time taken by the electrons to travel 0.02 m = t = x/v x = 0.02 m /(3.3 × 107 m s-1) =
6.6 x 10-10 s

The velocity in the x direction is the same as the initial velocity (there is no acceleration in
the x-direction). The velocity in the y direction as function of time t can be obtained from
vy = v0y + ayt.

vx = 3.3 × 107 m s-1

vy = (8.78 x 1015 m/s2)t

At the moment when the electrons leave the electrodes, v x = 3.3 × 107 m s-1
and vy = (8.78 x 1015 m/s2)( 6.6 x 10-10 s) = 5.3 × 106 m s-1

Therefore tan α = vy/ vx = (5.3 × 106 m s-1/3.3 × 107 m s-1)

or α = tan-1(vy/ vx) = 9.1o

2. A positive charge q is fixed at the point x = 0, y = 0. A negative charge -2q is fixed at the
point x = a and y = 0. (a) Show the positions of the charges in a diagram. (b) Derive an
expression for the potential V at points on the x-axis as a function of the coordinate x
(take V to be zero at an infinite distance from the charges).(c) At which positions on the
x-axis is V = 0?

Solution

For a point charge, V  kq . The total potential at any point is the algebraic sum of the
r
potential of the two charges.

(a) The positions of the two charges are shown in the below figure.

(b) We have to consider 3 scenarios:

kq 2kq  kq(x  a)
x  a :V    .
x x a x(x  a)
kq 2kq kq(3x  a)
0  x  a :V    .
x ax x(x  a)
 kq 2kq kq(x  a)
x  0:V    .
x x a x(x  a)
A general expression valid for any y is V  k  q  2q 
.
| x| | x  a | 
(c) The potential is zero at x   a and a /3.

3. Three point charges are arranged along the x-axis. Charge q1 = +3.00 µC is at the origin
and charge q2 = −5.00 µC is at x = 0.200 m. There is a third charge q 3 = −8.00 µC
located on the x-axis. Where is q3 located so that the net force on q1 is 7.00 N in the
negative x-direction?

Solution
Apply Coulomb’s law to calculate the force exerted by q 2 and q3 on q1. Add these forces
as vectors to get the net force. The target variable is the x-coordinate of q3.
 F2 is in the x-direction.
q1q2
F2  k  337 N, so F2 x  337 N
r122
Fx  F2 x  F3 x and Fx  700 N
F3 x  Fx  F2 x   700 N  337 N   1037 N
For F3x to be negative, q3 must be on the negative x axis.
q1q3 k q1q3
F3  k 2
, so x   0144 m, so x  0144 m
x F3
Note that q2 attracts q1 in the + x-direction so q3 must attract q1 in the x direction, and
q3 is at negative x.

4. In the below figure, C1 = C5 = 8.4 µF and C2 = C3 = C4 = 4.2 µF. The applied potential is
Vab = 220 V. (a) What is the equivalent capacitance of the network between points a and
b? (b) Calculate the charge on each capacitor and the potential difference across each
capacitor.

Solution

(a) Replace series and parallel combinations of capacitors by their equivalents.

The network is sketched in the below figure .

C1  C5  84 F
C2  C3  C4  42 F

C3 and C4
Simplify the circuit by replacing the capacitor combinations by their equivalents: are
in series and can be replaced by C34
 1 1 1
 
C34 C3 C4
1 C  C4
 3
C34 C3C4
C3C4 (42 F)(42 F)
C34    21 F
C3  C4 42 F  42 F

C2 and C34
are in parallel and can be replaced by their equivalent:

C234  C2  C34
C234  42 F  21 F
C234  63 F

C1,C5 and C234 Ceq

are in series and can be replaced by :
1 1 1 1
  
Ceq C1 C5 C234
1 2 1
 
Ceq 84 F 63 F
Ceq  25 F

For capacitors in series the equivalent capacitor is smaller than any of those in series. For
capacitors in parallel the equivalent capacitance is larger than any of those in parallel.
(b) In each equivalent network apply the rules for Q and V for capacitors in series and
parallel; start with the simplest network and work back to the original circuit.
The equivalent circuit is drawn below.

Qeq  CeqV
Qeq  (25 F)(220 V)  550 C

Q1  Q5  Q234  550 C
(capacitors in series have same charge)
Q 550 C
V1  1   65 V
C1 84 F
Q5 550 C
V5    65 V
C5 84 F
Q234 550 C
V234    87 V
C234 63 F
Now draw the network as below figure.
 V2  V34  V234  87 V
capacitors in parallel have the
same potential

Q2  C2V2  (42 F)(87 V)  370 C

Q34  C34V34  (21 F)(87 V)  180 C
Finally, consider the original circuit below.

Q3  Q4  Q34  180 C
capacitors in series have the same
charge

Q3 180 C
V3    43 V
C3 42 F
Q4 180 C
V4    43 V
C 4 4 2  F
Q1  550 C, V1  65 V
Summary:
Q2  370 C, V2  87 V
Q3  180 C, V3  43 V
Q4  180 C, V4  43 V
Q5  550 C, V5  65 V
V3  V4  V2 and V1  V2  V5  220 V
EVALUATE: (apart from some small rounding error)
Q1  Q2  Q3 and Q5  Q2  Q4

5. A capacitor has parallel plates of area 12 cm 2 and separated by 2.0 mm. The space
between the plates is filled with polystyrene (K=2.6). (a) Find the permittivity of
polystyrene. (b) Find the maximum permissible voltage across the capacitor to avoid
dielectric breakdown (The dielectric strength is E= 2 x 10 7 V/m). (c) When the voltage
equals the value found in part (b), find the surface charge density on each plate and the
induced surface charge density on the surface of the dielectric.
 Solution

6. A hollow, conducting sphere with an outer radius of 0.250 m and an inner radius of 0.200
m has a uniform surface charge density of +6.37 x 10-6 C/m2. A charge of -0.500 μC is
now introduced into the cavity inside the sphere. (a) What is the new charge density on
the outside of the sphere? (b) Calculate the strength of the electric field just outside the
sphere. (c) What is the electric flux through a spherical surface just inside the inner
surface of the sphere?
Solution
7. In a certain region of space the electric potential is given by where V= Ax2y − Bxy2
where A = 5.00 V/m3 and B = 8.00 V/m3. Calculate the magnitude and direction of the
electric field at the point in the region that has coordinates x = 2.00 m, y = 0.400 m, and
z = 0.

Solution
V V 
IDENTIFY: Apply Ex   and E y   to find the components of E, then use them to find its
x y
magnitude and direction. V(x, y) = Ax2y – Bxy2.
SET UP: E  Ex2  E y2 and tan   E y /E x .
 V 
EXECUTE: First find the components of E : Ex     ( Ax 2 y  Bxy 2 )  (2 Axy  By 2 ).
x x
Now evaluate this result at the point x = 2.00 m, y = 0.400 m using the given values for A and B.
Ex = –[2(5.00 V/m3)(2.00 m)(0.400 m) – (8.00 V/m3)(0.400 m)2] = –6.72 V/m.
V 
Ey     ( Ax 2 y  Bxy 2 )   ( Ax 2  2 Bxy ). At the point (2.00 m, 0.400 m), this is
y y
Ey = –[(5.00 V/m3)(2.00 m)2 – 2(8.00 V/m3)(2.00 m)(0.400 m)] = –7.20 V/m.
 
Now use the components to find the magnitude and direction of E .
E  Ex2  E y2 = ( 6.72 V/m) 2  ( 7.20 V/m) 2  9.85 V/m.
tan   E y /E x = (–7.20 V/m)/(–6.72 V/m), which gives  = 47.0°. Since both components are negative, the
vector lies in the third quadrant in the xy-plane and makes an angle of 47.0° + 180.0° = 227.0° with the +x-axis.

EVALUATE: V is a scalar but E is a vector and has components.

8. (a) What must the charge (sign and magnitude) of a 1.45 g particle be for it to remain
stationary when placed in a downward-directed electric field of magnitude 650 N/C?(b)
What is the magnitude of an electric field in which the electric force on a proton is equal
in magnitude to its weight?

Solution
 
IDENTIFY: The equation F  qE relates the electric field, charge of the particle, and the force on the particle.
If the particle is to remain stationary the net force on it must be zero.
SET UP: The free-body diagram for the particle is sketched in Figure 21.27. The weight is mg, downward. For the
net force to be zero the force exerted by the electric field must be upward. The electric field is downward. Since the
electric field and the electric force are in opposite directions the charge of the particle is negative.

mg  q E

Figure 21.27

mg (146  103 kg)(980 m/s 2 )

EXECUTE: (a) q    210  105 C and q  210 C.
E 680 N/C
(b) SET UP: The electrical force has magnitude FE  q E  eE The weight of a proton is w  mg  FE  w so
eE  mg .
mg (1673  1027 kg)(980 m/s 2 )
EXECUTE: E    102  107 N/C
e 1602  1019 C
This is a very small electric field.
EVALUATE: In both cases q E  mg and E  ( m/ q ) g  In part (b) the m/ q ratio is much smaller (  108 )
than in part (a) (  102 ) so E is much smaller in (b). For subatomic particles gravity can usually be ignored
compared to electric forces.

9. In the figure, positive charge Q is distributed uniformly along the positive y-axis between
y= 0 and y = a. A negative point charge −q lies on the positive x-axis, a distance x from
the origin. (a) Calculate the electric field produced by the charge distribution at points on
the positive x-axis. (b) Calculate the force that the charge distribution exerts on −q. (c)
When x >> a, show that the charge distribution acts like a point charge.
Solution
1 q
IDENTIFY: Use E  to calculate the electric field due to a small slice of the line of charge and
4 0 r 2

 F 
integrate as in Example 21.10. Use E  to calculate F 
q0
SET UP: The electric field due to an infinitesimal segment of the line of charge is sketched in Figure.

y x
sin   . cos  .
2 2
x y x  y2
2

Slice the charge distribution up into small pieces of length dy. The charge dQ in each slice is dQ  Q (dy/a ) The

electric field this produces at a distance x along the x-axis is dE. Calculate the components of dE and then
integrate over the charge distribution to find the components of the total field.
1  dQ  Q  dy 
EXECUTE: dE     .
4 0  x 2  y 2  4 0 a  x 2  y 2 
Qx  dy 
dE x  dE cos   .
4 0 a  ( x 2  y 2 )3/2 
Q  ydy 
dE y   dE sin     .
4 0 a  ( x 2  y 2 )3/2 
a
Qx a dy Qx  1 y  Q 1
Ex   dE x  
a 0 (x 2  y 2 )3/ 2
    .
4 0 4 0a  x 2 x  y  0 4 0 x
2 2
x  a2
2

a
Q a ydy Q  1  Q 1 1 
E y   dEy  
a 0 (x 2  y 2 )3/2
       .
4 0 4 0a  2 2 4 a  x 
 x  y 0 0  x  a2
2

 
(b) F  q0 E .
 qQ 1 qQ  1 1 
Fx  qE x  ; Fy   qE y    .
4 0 x x2  a2 4 0 a  x x  a2
2 

 1/2
1 1  a2  1 a2  1 a2
(c) For  1  2   1  2    3 .
 x  x  2 x  x 2 x
x2  a2 x 
qQ qQ  1 1 a 2  qQa
Fx   , Fy      .
4 0 x 2 4 0a  x x 2 x3  8 0 x 3
qQ 
EVALUATE: For and F  Fx  and F is in the  x-direction. For the charge
2
4 0 x
distribution Q acts like a point charge.

10. Three charges are at the corners of an isosceles triangle as shown in the figure. The ±5.00
μC charges form a dipole. (a) Find the force (magnitude and direction) the −10.00 μC
charge exerts on the dipole. (b) For an axis perpendicular to the line connecting the ±5.00
μC charges at the midpoint of this line, find the torque (magnitude and direction) exerted
on the dipole by the −10.00 μC charge.

Solution

(a) IDENTIFY: Use Coulomb’s law to calculate each force and then add them as vectors to obtain the net force.
Torque is force times moment arm.
SET UP: The two forces on each charge in the dipole are shown in Figure 21.57a.

sin   150/200 so   486.

Opposite charges attract and like charges repel.

Fx  F1x  F2 x  0.

qq (500  106 C)(100  106 C)

EXECUTE: F1  k k  1124  103 N.
r2 (00200 m) 2
F1 y   F1 sin   8426 N.
F2 y  8426 N so Fy  F1 y  F2 y  1680 N (in the direction from the 500- C charge toward the
500- C charge).
EVALUATE: The x-components cancel and the y-components add.

(b) SET UP: Refer to Figure

The y-components have zero moment arm
and therefore zero torque.
F1x and F2 x both produce clockwise torques.

EXECUTE: F1x  F1 cos   7431 N.

  2( F1x )(00150 m)  223 N  m, clockwise.
EVALUATE: The electric field produced by the 1000  C charge is not uniform so   pE sin  does not
apply.