Example: The Hydrogen Atom

The electron and proton of a hydrogen atom are separated (on the average) by a distance of
approximately . Find the magnitudes of the electric force and the
gravitational force between the two particles.

From Coulomb’s law, we find that the magnitude of the electric force is

Using Newton’s law of universal gravitation and for the particle masses, we find that the
magnitude of the gravitational force is

=> The ratio . Thus, the gravitational force between charged atomic particles is negligible when
compared with the electric force.

1
Example: Find the Resultant Force
Consider three point charges located at the corners of a right
triangle as shown in figure, where , , and . Find the resultant
force exerted on .
From Coulomb’s law, the magnitude of is

From Coulomb’s law, the magnitude of is

2
Example: Where Is the Resultant Force Zero?
Three point charges lie along the x axis as shown in figure. The
positive charge is at , the positive charge is at the origin, and
the resultant force acting on is zero. What is the x coordinate of
?

From Coulomb’s law, and have magnitudes

For the resultant force on to be zero, must be equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to .
Setting the magnitudes of the two forces equal, we have

Solving this quadratic equation for , we find that the positive root is . There is also a second root, .
(This is another location at which the magnitudes of the forces on q3 are equal, but both forces are in
the same direction at this location.)

3
Example: Find the Charge on the Spheres
Two identical small charged spheres, each having a mass of , hang in
equilibrium as shown in figure. The length of each string is , and the angle
is . Find the magnitude of the charge on each sphere.

The distance between the spheres is .

Because the sphere is in equilibrium, the forces in the horizontal and vertical
directions must separately add up to zero:
(1)
(2)

(1)=>

From Coulomb’s law, the magnitude of the electric force is

4
Example: Electric Field Due to Two Charges
A charge is located at the origin, and a second charge is located on the x axis,
0.3 m from the origin (Fig.). Find the electric field at the point P, which has
coordinates (0, 0.4) m.
First, find the magnitude of the electric field at P due to each charge. Their
magnitudes are

66° (the angle between and the positive x axis). The magnitude of : N/C.

5
Example: Electric Field of a Dipole
An electric dipole is defined as a positive charge and negative charge separated by
a distance . For the dipole shown in figure, find the electric field at P due to the
dipole, where P is a distance from the origin.
At P, the fields and due to the two charges are equal in magnitude because
P is equidistant from the charges. The total field is , where

The y components of and cancel each other, and the x components are
both in the positive x direction and have the same magnitude. Therefore, is
parallel to the x axis and has a magnitude equal to .

Because y >>a, we can neglect compared to and write

6
Example: The Electric Field Due to a Charged Rod
A rod of length has a uniform positive charge per unit
length and a total charge . Calculate the electric field
at a point P that is located along the long axis of the
rod and a distance from one end (see figure).

i) Find the magnitude of the electric field at P due to one segment (dx) of the rod having a charge .

ii) Find the total field at P and are constant so,

7
Suppose we move to a point P very far away
from the rod. What is the nature of the
electric field at such a point?

Answer: If P is far from the rod (), then in the

This is just the form you would expect for a

8
Example: The Electric Field of a Uniform Ring of
Charge
A ring of radius a carries a uniformly distributed
positive total charge . Calculate the electric field due
to the ring at a point P lying a distance from its
center along the central axis perpendicular to the
plane of the ring (Fig.a).
Pick a charge element , and evaluate the electric field components due to it at point P.
The perpendicular (to the x axis) components of electric field () cancel each other, because of the
symmetry (Fig.b). This field has an x component along the x axis.
, ,

All segments of the ring make the same contribution to the field at P because they are all equidistant
from this point. Thus, we can integrate to obtain the total field at P:

If x<<a ,

9
Example: The Electric Field of a
Uniformly Charged Disk By symmetry, the field at an axial point must be along the central
axis.
A disk of radius R has a uniform Consider the disk as a set of concentric rings.
surface charge density . Calculate the
electric field at a point P that lies Using this result in the equation given for Ex in Example 23.8 (with
along the central perpendicular axis a replaced by r), we have for the field due to the ring
of the disk and a distance x from the
center of the disk (Fig.). To obtain the total field at P, integrate this expression over the
limits to r=R, noting that x is a constant,

If R<<x ,

10
Example: An Accelerating Positive Charge
A uniform electric field is directed along the x axis between parallel plates of charge separated by a distance d. A positive
point charge q of mass m is released from rest at a point A next to the positive plate and accelerates to a point B next to
the negative plate. (a) Find the speed of the particle at B by modeling it as a particle under constant acceleration. (b) Find
the speed of the particle at B by modeling it as a nonisolated system in terms of energy.

(a) Describe its motion and find the speed of the particle at B.
The particle moves under a constant acceleration between plates of charge (a=qE/m).

(b) Write the appropriate reduction of the conservation of energy equation, for the system of
the charged particle:

Replace the work and kinetic energies with values appropriate for this situation:

11
Example: An Accelerated Electron
An electron enters the region of a uniform electric field, with and
. The horizontal length of the plates is . (a) Find the acceleration
of the electron while it is in the electric field. (b) Assuming the
electron enters the field at time t=0, find the time at which it
leaves the field. (c) Assuming the vertical position of the electron
as it enters the field is , what is its vertical position when it leaves
the field?

(a)

(b)

(c)

12
 ⃗
𝐹1
PROBLEMS
6 0°
Problem 23.7: Three point 𝑞2 ;
charges are located at the 6 0°
corners of an equilateral ;

triangle as shown in ⃗
𝐹2
figure. Calculate the
resultant electric force on
the 7.00-C charge.
𝑞1 𝑞3

13
Problem 23.9: Two identical conducting small spheres are placed with their centers apart. One is given a
charge of and the other a charge of . (a) Find the electric force exerted by one sphere on the other. (b) What
If? The spheres are connected by a conducting wire. Find the electric force between the two after they have
come to equilibrium.
(a) The force is one of attraction. The distance in Coulomb’s law is the distance between centers. The
magnitude of the force is

(b) The net charge of will be equally split between the two spheres, or on each. The force is one of
repulsion, and its magnitude is

14
Problem 23.10: Two small beads Let the third bead have charge and be located distance x
having positive charges and are fixed from the left end of the rod. This bead will experience a net
at the opposite ends of a horizontal, force given by
insulating rod, extending from the
origin to the point . As shown in
Figure, a third small charged bead is
free to slide on the rod. At what The net force will be zero if
position is the third bead in
equilibrium? Can it be in stable
equilibrium?
This gives an equilibrium position of the third bead of

The equilibrium is stable if the third bead has positive

15
Problem 23.21: Four point charges are at the corners of a square of side ‘a’ as shown in figure. (a) Determine the
magnitude and direction of the electric field at the location of charge q. (b) What is the resultant force on q?
⃗
𝐸3 ⃗
𝐸2
(a)
𝜃=4 5 ° at
⃗
𝐸1
𝑞1

𝑞3
𝑞2 (b) at
⃗
𝐹3 ⃗
𝐹2 OR
𝜃=4 5 °
⃗
𝐹1
𝑞1

𝑞3
16
𝑞
Problem 23.22: Consider the electric
dipole shown in Figure. Show that the
electric field at a distant point on the
axis is .

When x is much, much greater than a, we find

⃗
𝐸2 P
2 1
⃗
𝐸1
x
a a
17
Problem 23.33: A uniformly
Due to symmetry , and
charged insulating rod of
length 14.0 cm is bent into the
shape of a semicircle as shown
in figure. The rod has a total
where ,
charge of -7.50 C. Find the
magnitude and direction of the
So that,
electric field at O, the center of
the semicircle.
where and .
Thus,
ds
q is negative. So, to the left.

18
Problem 23.35: A thin rod of length and (a) The electric field at point P due to each element of lenght , is and is
uniform charge per unit length lies along directed along the line joining the element to point P.
the x axis, as shown in figure. (a) Show
By symmetry, , and since
that the electric field at P, a distance from
where .
the rod along its perpendicular bisector,
has no x component and is given by . (b)
Using your result to part (a), show that the
field of a rod of infinite length is .

(b) For a bar of infinite lenght,

19
Problem 23.44: A proton is projected in the positive x direction into a region of a uniform electric field . The
proton travels 7.00 cm before coming to rest. Determine (a) the acceleration of the proton, (b) its initial
speed, and (c) the time at which the proton comes to rest.

(a)

(b)

=>

(c)

20
Problem 23.54: A small, 2.00-g plastic ball From the free-body diagram shown,
is suspended by a 20.0-cm-long string in a
uniform electric field as shown in Figure. If
the ball is in equilibrium when the string
makes a 15.0° angle with the vertical, what
is the net charge on the ball?

21
Problem 23.55: A charged cork ball of (a) Let us sum force compenents to find
mass 1.00 g is suspended on a light
string in the presence of a uniform
electric field as shown in figure. When Combining these two equations, we get
, the ball is in equilibrium at . Find (a)
the charge on the ball and (b) the
tension in the string.

(b) From the two equations for and we also find

22
Problem 23.59: Two identical metallic Charge resides on each block, which repel as point charges:
blocks resting on a frictionless horizontal
surface are connected by a light metallic
spring having a spring constant as shown
in Figure a and an unstretched length . A
total charge is slowly placed on the
system, causing the spring to stretch to an
equilibrium length , as shown in Figure b.
Determine the value of , assuming that all Solving for ,
the charge resides on the blocks and
modeling the blocks as point charges.

23
 At equilibrium, the distance between the charges is . Now consider the forces on
Problem 23.62: Two small spheres, the sphere with charge , and use
each of mass 2.00 g, are suspended
by light strings 10.0 cm in length
(Fig.). A uniform electric field is Eliminate T from (2) by use of (1).
applied in the direction. The spheres
have charges equal to and .
Determine the electric field that
enables the spheres to be in is the attractive force on exerted by , and is the force exerted on by the external
equilibrium at an angle . electric field.

Thus,

and

𝑇 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝐹𝐸
𝐹 −𝑞

24
Problem: Three point (a) Call and , and . Then,
charges are located on a
circular arc as shown in
Figure. (a) What is the
total electric field at P,
the center of the arc? (b)
Find the electric force
that would be exerted
on a point charge
placed at P.

(b) The electric force on a point charge placed at point P is

25
Problem 23.40: Figure shows the electric field lines for two charged particles separated by a small
distance. (a) What are the signs of and ? (b) Determine the ratio .

(a) Field lines emerge from positive charge and enter negative charge.
is negative, is positive .

(b) The number of field lines emerging from positive and entering
negative charge is proportional to their charges:

26