ASSIGNMENT 1

Chapter 5: Electric Charges and Fields

Q1. There are very large numbers of charged particles in most objects. Why, then, don’t most objects
exhibit static electricity?

Q3. A positively charged rod attracts a small piece of cork. (a) Can we conclude that the cork is negatively
charged? (b) The rod repels another small piece of cork. Can we conclude that this piece is positively
charged?

Q4. Two bodies attract each other electrically. Do they both have to be charged? Answer the same
question if the bodies repel one another.

Q11. Compare charging by conduction to charging by induction.

Q21. An atomic nucleus contains positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons. Since nuclei do
stay together, what must we conclude about the forces between these nuclear particles?

Q25. If the electric field at a point on the line between two charges is zero, what do you know about the
charges?
Q39. To start a car engine, the car battery moves 3.75×1021 electrons through the starter motor. How
many coulombs of charge were moved?

Q43. Suppose a speck of dust in an electrostatic precipitator has 1.0000×1012 protons in it and has a net
charge of −5.00 nC (a very large charge for a small speck). How many electrons does it have?

Q51. Protons in an atomic nucleus are typically 10−15m apart. What is the electric force of repulsion
between nuclear protons?

Q59. A charge q=2.0μC is placed at the point P shown below. What is the force on q?

Q63. What is the force on the charge q at the lower-right-hand corner of the square shown here?
Q65. A particle of charge 2.0×10−8C experiences an upward force of magnitude 4.0×10−6N when it is
placed in a particular point in an electric field. (a) What is the electric field at that point? (b) If a charge
q=−1.0×10−8C is placed there, what is the force on it?

Q73. If the electric field is 100N/C at a distance of 50 cm from a point charge q, what is the value of q?

Q81. Calculate the magnitude and direction of the electric field 2.0 m from a long wire that is charged
uniformly at λ=4.0×10−6C/m.

Q85. Two thin parallel conducting plates are placed 2.0 cm apart. Each plate is 2.0 cm on a side; one
plate carries a net charge of 8.0μC, and the other plate carries a net charge of −8.0μC. What is the
charge density on the inside surface of each plate? What is the electric field between the plates?
Q101. In this exercise, you will practice drawing electric field lines. Make sure you represent both the
magnitude and direction of the electric field adequately. Note that the number of lines into or out of
charges is proportional to the charges.

(a) Draw the electric field lines map for two charges +20μC and −20μC situated 5 cm from each other.

(b) Draw the electric field lines map for two charges +20μC and +20μC situated 5 cm from each other.

(c) Draw the electric field lines map for two charges +20μC and −30μC situated 5 cm from each other.

Q107. A water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms bonded with one oxygen atom. The bond angle
between the two hydrogen atoms is 104° (see below). Calculate the net dipole moment of a hypothetical
water molecule where the charge at the oxygen molecule is −2e and at each hydrogen atom is +e. The
net dipole moment of the molecule is the vector sum of the individual dipole moment between the two
O-Hs. The separation O-H is 0.9578 angstroms.
Chapter 6: Gauss's Law

Q1. Discuss how to orient a planar surface of area A in a uniform electric field of magnitude E0 to obtain
(a) the maximum flux and (b) the minimum flux through the area.

Q5. Two concentric spherical surfaces enclose a point charge q. The radius of the outer sphere is twice
that of the inner one. Compare the electric fluxes crossing the two surfaces.

Q11. Is the term E in Gauss’s law the electric field produced by just the charge inside the Gaussian
surface?

Q19. The conductor in the preceding figure has an excess charge of –5.0µC. If a 2.0-µC point charge is
placed in the cavity, what is the net charge on the surface of the cavity and on the outer surface of the
conductor?

Q25. A square surface of area 2cm2 is in a space of uniform electric field of magnitude 103N/C. The
amount of flux through it depends on how the square is oriented relative to the direction of the electric
field. Find the electric flux through the square, when the normal to it makes the following angles with
electric field: (a) 30°, (b) 90°, and (c) 0°. Note that these angles can also be given as 180°+θ.
Q31. Find the electric flux through the closed surface whose cross-sections are shown below.

Q33. A point charge of 10μC is at an unspecified location inside a cube of side 2 cm. Find the net electric
flux through the surfaces of the cube.
Q37. The electric flux through a spherical surface is 4.0×104N⋅m2/C. What is the net charge enclosed by
the surface?

Q43. A very long, thin wire has a uniform linear charge density of 50μC/m. What is the electric field at a
distance 2.0 cm from the wire?

Q45. Repeat your calculations for the preceding problem, given that the charge is distributed uniformly
over the surface of a spherical conductor of radius 10.0 cm.

Q53. Charge is distributed uniformly with a density ρ throughout an infinitely long cylindrical
volume of radius R. Show that the field of this charge distribution is directed radially with respect
to the cylinder and that

Q67. Two parallel plates 10 cm on a side are given equal and opposite charges of magnitude 5.0×10−9C.
The plates are 1.5 mm apart. What is the electric field at the center of the region between the plates?