LOS MEDANOS COLLEGE

PHYS 41
Instructor: Jeanne Bonner

Problem Set 1

1. A certain charge Q is to be divided into two parts, q and Q - q. What is the relationship
of Q to q if the two parts, placed a given distance apart, are to have a maximum Coulomb
repulsion?

2. How far apart must two protons be if the electrical repulsive force acting on either one is
equal to its weight at the earth's surface? The mass of a proton is 1.7 x 10~27 kg.

3. Two free point charges +q and +4q are a distance I apart. A third charge is so placed that
the entire system is in equilibrium. Find the location, magnitude, and sign of the third
charge. Is the equilibrium stable?

4. Two similar conducting balls of mass m are hung from silk threads of length £ and carry
similar charges q. Assume that 6 is so small that tan 9 can be replaced by its approximate
equal, sin 9. To this approximation (a) show that

2neomg)

where x is the separation between the balls, (b) If C = 120 cm, m= lOg, and x = 5.0 cm,
what is q?

5. Assume that each conducting ball in the previous problem is losing charge at the rate of
1.0 x 10"9C/sec. At what instantaneous relative speed (= dx/dt) do the balls approach
each other initially?

6. Two identical conducting spheres, having charges of opposite sign, attract each other
with a force of 0.108 N when separated by 0.500 m. The spheres are connected by a
conducting wire, which is then removed, and thereafter repel each other with a force of
0.0360 N. What were the initial charges on the spheres?

7. What is the resultant force on the charge in the lower left corner of the square? Assume
that q = 1.0 x 10"7 C and a = 5.0 cm. The charges are fixed in position.
LOS MEDANOS COLLEGE
PHYS 41
Instructor: Jeanne Bonner

8. A cube of edge a carries a point charge q at each corner, (a) Show that the magnitude of
the resultant force on any one of the charges is

0.262q2
F=
eoa
(b) What is the direction of F relative to the cube edges?

9. The figure below shows a long insulating, massless rod of length £, pivoted at its center
and balanced with a weight W at a distance x from the left end. At the left and right ends
of the rod are attached positive charges q and 2q, respectively. A distance h directly
beneath each of these charges is a fixed positive charge Q. (a) Find the distance x for the
position of the weight when the rod is balanced, (b) What value should h have so that the
rod exerts no vertical force on the bearing when balanced? Neglect the interaction
between charges at the opposite ends of the rod.

10. At some instant the velocity components or an electron moving between two charged
parallel plates are vx = 1.5 x 105 m/sec and vy = 0.3 x 104 m/sec. If the electric field
-N
between the plates is given by E = 1.2 x 10 j—, (a) what is the acceleration of the
\-^

electron? (b) When the x-coordinate of the electron has changed by 2.0 cm, what will be
the velocity of the electron?

11. Sketch qualitatively the lines of force associated with a thin, circular, uniformly charged
disk of radius R. (Hint: Consider as limiting cases points very close to the surface and
points very far from it.) Show the lines only in a plane containing the axis of the disk.

12. Consider two equal, positive charges Q which are separated by a distance 2a. What is the
electric field E at a distance r from the center of the two charges on a line perpendicular
to the line joining them? Take the distance r large compared to 2a.
1. A certain charge Q is to be divided into two parts, q and Q-q. What is
the relationship of Q to q if the two parts, placed a given distance apart,
are to have a maximum Coulomb repulsion?

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