Solution for HW#1

1-1
a)
Gravitational Force= Electric Force

1 e2
4 0 r 2

mp

1
4 0G

m
G p2
r

e 1.859 10 9 kg
1.673 10 27 kg , it is about 1018 times larger!

Note that the original proton mass is given as

b)
Let a dime consists of

NA

copper atoms.

Their nuclear and electronic charges were unbalanced by about 1%

A dime weights about 25g,
Hence there are

mcu 64.536g / mol

m
N
mcu A

copper atoms in a dime

Total force

mobject

0.01 ne

1
4 0

Total Force

1.3 1013 N

1.3 1012 kg

It is approximately mass of a comet.

1-3
Assume there is 1 conduction electron for each copper atom.

The number of conduction electrons in unit volume of No. 10 gauge copper wire is,

n
Current

I 10A

copper
8.94g / cm 3
NA
6.02 1023 8.47 1028 / m 3
mcopper
63.546g
can be obtained as

dx
dQ dneV

neA
neAv
dt
dt
dt

Average speed of electrons are

I
3.75 10 5 m / s
neA

1-4
a)

F q E v B e(E vB )x 0

B
With

E
E

v c /3

E 10000V / cm

b)
No. Meson with either charge will give the same reaction to this experiment.

1-5
a)

For a particle under uniform magnetic field B

B 0z with x t 0 0 and x t 0 0 , the

Lorentz force on the particle is,

F qv B mx
Therefore,

mx q yB z zB y qyB 0

my q zB x xB z qxB 0
mz q xB y yB x 0
Hence solving equations for x and y direction gives,

qB 0
v
m y
qB
vy 0 v x
m
vx

vx 2v x 0
vy 2v y 0

v v cos tx v sin ty
with

qB
m

While solving the equation for z direction gives,

v z v z (t 0) 0
Integrating

with initial position (0,0,0) at t=0 gives the trajectory for

x.

v
sin t x v cos t 1y

Note this is just a circular motion with radius

v
mv

qB

b)

4
x

3
1
2

Note B field does no work to the particle; particle speed is same everywhere on the trajectory.

Start-point1:
At the starting point, there is no velocity in y direction
Since applied B field gets stronger, the radius of curvature of the particle trajectory gets smaller.
At point 1, there is no velocity in x direction.
Point1-Point2:
Since B field is only the function of x, and the speed of the particle is same everywhere, curvature
at the trajectory point1-point2 should look like trajectory start-point1
At point2, there is no velocity in y direction
Point2-Point3:
No, B field gets weaker, hence radius of curvature of particle trajectory gets larger.
At point3, there is no velocity in x direction
Point3-Point4:
Since B field is only the function of x, and the speed of the particle is same everywhere, curvature
at the trajectory point3-point4 should look like trajectory point2-point3.
At point4, there is no velocity in y direction
After point 4:
The situation is same as the starting point; same velocity and applied field. Therefore, one can
take 4 as new starting point.

c)

B B 0 ax z
If there are no current or electric fields in volume,

B 0
But calculating the curl of given magnetic field gives,


B ay
Hence it is inconsistent with one of Maxwells eqn.

1-6
a)
A particle with a mass m and a positive charge q
Initial condition:
x=z=0, y=a,

v v 0e x

v o is small.
Since magnetic field does no work, the speed of the particle must be a function of r only.
Lets consider the case when particle moving in speed

v0

with radius a

For this particle to rotate in circle of radius a, its velocity must be perpendicular to
Therefore,
2

mv 0
1 qQ

qv 0B
a
4 0 a 2
2
1 mv 0
1 qQ

B
qv 0 a
4 0 a 2

b)
Magnetic field does no work.
Electrostatic force is a conservative force since

F q E 0
Therefore, we can define the potential energy for this motion, U(r).
The total energy of the system is conserved,

1
2

U (r ) mv 2 const .
The speed of the particle must be a function of r only.

c)
Use polar coordinates.

dr dr
dr
r r

r r r
dt dt
dt

d 2r
r r 2r r r 2r
2
dt
Note,

r (cos , sin ) , ( sin , cos )

dr dr d dr d d
d

( sin , cos )
dt d dt d dt dt
dt
d d d d dr d
d

r
( cos , sin )
dt d dt dr dt dt
dt
Since the force acting on the particle is,

1 qQ
d 2r

m 2
r

qB
v
z
4 0 r 2
dt

m r r 2r r r 2r

m r r 2r r r 2r

1 qQ
4 0 r 2
1 qQ
4 0 r 2

r qB r r r z

r qB r r r

m r r 2

1 qQ
4 0 r 2

qBr

m 2r r qBr

This is a nonlinear differential equation, and is very hard to analyze. But we can still guess how
the particle will move with our intuition.

Note Lorentz force by B field will always act to right side of the particles velocity. Also note that
right after the initial time t=0,

i)

r 0 and 0 .

Consider the case when B field is small enough, so that

r 0 always holds.

The particle will fall into the center.

ii)

Say B field is large enough, so that at r=b,

2

r 0.

mv 0
1 qQ
1 qQ
Let the velocity satisfying

mb 2 2
qv 0B is the
2
b
4 0 b
4 0 b 2
critical velocity.

Note

m r r 2

r b

m r b 2

1 qQ
4 0 r 2

1 qQ
4 0 b 2

r b

qBr r b

qBb

For the particle with velocity less than critical velocity, we have

r 0 at r b

Hence, it will fall into the center.

For particle with the critical velcity, it will have circular motion at

r b.
y

r b , since r 0

at

For particle with velocity larger than critical velocity, it will oscillate between 2 orbital circles,

2
3
x
4

since

r 0

at

r b,

and particle speed depends only on the r only, force acting on the

particle is function of r only.

(The outer circle denotes the points with potential energy same to initial total energy. When the
particle arrives at the outer circle(point 3), it will stop since speed of the particle is also function
of r only. Then the situation is identical to the point when particle had started(point1). So particle
will undergo the same motion(1-2-3) over again.)