Scribd
Upload
81 views11 pages

Electric Field of A Spherical Shell of Charge: Qualitative Approach Integration

The electric field inside the metal ball is zero. Since the metal ball is a conductor, any excess charges will distribute uniformly on the outer surface. Therefore, there will be no electric field inside the conductor.

Uploaded by

Dr Razak Olusegun Alli-Oke
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
81 views11 pages

Electric Field of A Spherical Shell of Charge: Qualitative Approach Integration

The electric field inside the metal ball is zero. Since the metal ball is a conductor, any excess charges will distribute uniformly on the outer surface. Therefore, there will be no electric field inside the conductor.

Uploaded by

Dr Razak Olusegun Alli-Oke
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 11

Electric Field of a Spherical Shell of Charge


Field inside: E = 0
 1 Q
Field outside: E = r̂ (like point charge)
4πε 0 r 2

 Qualitative approach
 Integration
E of a Sphere Outside
 Direction: radial - due to the symmetry

Divide into 6 areas:

E6 E5
E1+E4

E2 E3
E of a Sphere Outside
 Magnitude:
1 Q
E=
4πε 0 r 2

As long as we are far from a region of


distributed charges we can approximate the
electric field of that region as being due to
a point charge.

How would a charged sphere interact with other charges?


- as a point charge (same force)
E of a Sphere Inside
 Magnitude: E=0

Note: E is not always 0 inside – other charges in the Universe


may make a nonzero electric field inside.
E of a Sphere Inside
E=0: Implications

Fill charged sphere with plastic.


Will plastic be polarized? No!

Solid metal sphere: since it is a conductor, any excess charges


on the sphere arranges itself uniformly on the outer surface.
There will be no field nor excess charges inside!
In general: In static equilibrium, there is no electric field
inside metals
E of a Sphere Inside
What is electric field right at the surface?

Electric field at the surface is highly variable in magnitude and direction

Need to be >1000 atomic diameters away from surface


for equations to work!
Integration
Divide shell into rings of charge, each delimited by the angle θ and
the angle θ+Δθ
Use polar coordinates (r, θ,ϕ). Δθ
Distance from center: d=(r-Rcosθ) R
Surface area of ring: Rsinθ
θ
RΔθ Rcosθ
2π (Rsin θ )
d
r
1 (ΔQ)d ⎛ 2π Rsin θ RΔθ ⎞
ΔE = ΔQ = Q ⎜ ⎟⎠
4πε 0 (d 2 + (Rsin θ )2 )3/2 ⎝ 4π R 2
π
1 Q (r − R cosθ )
E= ∫
4πε 0 2 0 ⎡(r − R cosθ )2 + (Rsin θ )2 ⎤ 3/2 sin θ dθ
⎣ ⎦
Question 2 (Chap. 15)
Which one of these statements is false?

A.  The electric field of a very long uniformly charged rod


has a 1/r distance dependence.
B.  The electric field of a capacitor at a location outside
the capacitor is very small compared to the field
inside the capacitor.
C.  The fringe field of a capacitor at a location far away
from the capacitor looks like an electric field of a point
charge.
D.  The electric field of a uniformly charged thin ring at
the center of the ring is zero.
A Solid Sphere of Charge
Inside a solid sphere of charge:
 1 ΔQ
E= rˆ
4πε 0 r 2

(volume of inner shells) R


ΔQ = Q
(volume of sphere)
4 / 3⋅πr3 r3
ΔQ = Q =Q 3 E
4 / 3⋅π R 3
R r
 1 Qr
E= r̂ for r<R
4πε 0 R 3

Why is E~r?
 1 QR 1 Q
 On surface: E= r̂ = r̂
4πε 0 R 3
4πε 0 R 2
15.P.47 Hydrogen Atom

A simplified model of a hydrogen atom is that the


electron cloud is a sphere of radius R with uniform
charge density and total charge –e.

a) For the uniform-density model, calculate the


polarizability α of atomic hydrogen in terms of R.
Consider the case where the magnitude E of the
applied electric field is much smaller than the
electric field required to ionize the atom.
b) For a hydrogen atom, R can be taken as roughly
10-10 m. The measured value is α = 7.4 x 10-41 Cm/
(N/C).
Exercise 1
A solid metal ball bearing a charge –17 nC is located near a solid
plastic ball bearing a uniformly distributed charge +7 nC (on
surface).
Show approximate charge distribution in each ball.

Metal Plastic
-17 nC +7 nC

What is electric field field inside the metal ball?

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy