ELECTROSTATICS -REVISION 1

1 Two charges q and -q are located at (0,0,-a) and (0,0,+a) respectively.

a) Depict the equipotentials due to this arrangement
b) Find the amount of work done in moving a small test charge𝑞0 from point (l,0,0) to(0,0,0)
2 Two point charges 𝑞1 =+1𝜇c and 𝑞2 =+4𝜇c are placed 2m apart in air.At what distance from
𝑞1 along the line joining the charges is the net electric field zero?

3 An electric dipole of dipole moment p is placed in a uniform electric field E at an angle 𝜃 with
it.Derive the expression for the torque 𝜏 acting on it.Find the orientation of the dipole relative to the
electric field for which the torque on it is i)maximum ii)half the maximum

4 An electric field along the x axis is given by E=200 î N/C for x> 0 and E=200Î N/C forx < 0. A
right circular cylinder of length 30cm and radius 5cm lies parallel to the X axis with its centre at the
origin and one face at x=15cm and the other face at x=-15cm .Calculate the net outward flux through

the cylinder .
5 Using Gauss’s law obtain expression for the electric field i}inside and ii) outside a positively
charged spherical shell .
Show graphically variation of the electric field as a function of the distance r from the centre of the
sphere
6)A simple pendulum consists of a small sphere of mass m suspended by a thread of length l .The
sphere carries a positive charge q.The pendulum is placed in a uniform electric field of strength E
directed vertically downwards .Find the period of oscillation of the pendulum due to the electrostatic
force acting on the sphere ,neglecting the effect of gravitational force.
7)Define electric flux and write its SI unit.The electric field components in the figure shown are
𝐸𝑥 =𝛼𝑥 , 𝐸𝑦 =0 ,𝐸𝑧 =0 where 𝛼=100N/cm .Calculate the charge within the cube assuming a=0.1m
8)Four point charges Q,q,Q and q are placed at the corners of a square of side a as shown in fig .
Find a) resultant electric force on a charge Q b) Potential energy of the system

9) Three point charges q ,-4q and 2q are placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle of side l as
shown in figure .Find the expression for the magnitude of the resultant electric force on the charge q
b) Find the amount of work done to separate the charges to an infinite distance
10) A point charge q is at a distance of d/2 directly across the centre of a square of side d as shown
in fig .Use Gauss’s law to obtain the expression for the electric flux through the square.

11A point charge +Q is placed in the vicinity of a conducting surface .Draw electric field lines
between the surface and the charge
12)aUse Gauss’s law to derive the expression for the electric field due to a uniformly charged infinite
plane sheet at a distance r from the sheet of charge .

b)An infinite large thin plane sheet has a uniform surface charge density 𝜎.Obtain the expression for
the amount of work done in bringing a point charge q from infinity to a point distant r in front of the
charged plane sheet

13)A wire AB of length L has linear charge density 𝜆=kx where x is measured from the end A of the
wire .This wire is enclosed by a hollow Gaussian surface .Find the expression for the electric flux
through the surface.

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14)A uniformly charged large plane sheet has charge density σ=18𝜋 𝑋10−15 C/𝑚2 .Find the electric
field at point A which is 50cm from the sheet .
15)Two identical spheres carrying charge 10 μc and (-20 μc) when separated by a distance r
experiences a force F each .If they are brought in contact and then separated to a distance r/2 what is
the new force between them in terms of F?
16)Two point charges q and -2q are kept d distance apart.Find the location of the point relative to
charge q at which potential due to this system of charges is zero.

17)A sphere 𝑠1 of radius 𝑟1 encloses a net charge Q .If there is another concentric sphere 𝑠2 of radius
𝑟2 (𝑟2 > 𝑟1 ) enclosing a charge 2Q find the ratio of electric flux through 𝑠1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠2 .How will the
electric flux through sphere 𝑠1 change if a medium of dielectric constant k is introduced in the space

inside 𝑠2 in place of air ?

18)Two point charges +q and -2q are placed at the vertices B and C of an equilateral triangle of side
a as given in the figure.Obtain the expression for the i) magnitude and ii) direction of resultant electric

field at vertex A due to these two charges

19) Two charges of magnitudes -3Q and +2Q are located at points (a,0) and (4a,0) respectively.What
is the electric flux due to these charges through a sphere of radius 5a with its centre at the origin?
20)Atest charge Q is moved without acceleration from Ato C along the path from A to B and then
from Bto C in an electric field E as shown in the figure . i) calculate the potential difference between
A and C ii) At which point (of the two) is the electric potential more and why ?

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21)Plot a graph showing the variation of coulomb force F versus where r is the distance between
𝑟2
the two charges of each pair of charges (1μc,2μc) and ( 2μC,-3μc).Interpret the graphs obtained
22)Obtain an expression for the Potential energy of an electric dipole placed in a uniform electric field
What is the amount of work done in moving 4μC from one point to another point on its surface ?
23)a)Three capacitors of capacitance C1,C2,C3 are connected in series to a source of Vvolt.Show that
the total energy stored in the combination of capacitors is equal to sum of the energy stored in
individual capacitors
b) A capacitor of capacitance C is connected across a battery.After charging the battery is
disconnected and the separation between the plates is doubled .How will i) the capacitance of the
capacitor and ii) Electric field between the plates be affected ?Justify your answer

24) a)A network of four capacitors each of capacitance 12 𝜇𝑓 is connected to a battery as shown in fig
.Find the total charge stored in the network.

b)If the two plates of the capacitor have +q and -q charges respectively find the force experienced by
the negative plate due to the positive plate
c) Consider a system of two parallel metal plates of area A each placed at a separation d in air.Derive
the expression for the capacitance of this parallel plate capacitor

25)In the circuit shown in the figure the charge on the capacitance of 4𝜇𝑓 is 16𝜇𝑐.Calculate the
energy stored in the capacitor of 12𝜇𝑓 𝑐apacitance

26 The figure shows a network of five capacitors connected to a 100v supply.Calculate the total
energy stored in the network

25 A parallel plate capacitor of capacitance C is charged to a potential V by a battery.Without

disconnecting the battery the distance between the plates is tripled and a medium of dielectric constant
k=10 is introduced between the plates of the capacitor .Explain giving reason how will the following
be affected
i) Capacitance of the capacitor
ii) Charge on the capacitor
iii) Energy density of the capacitor

26 i) State Coulomb’s law in electrostatics and write it vector form for two charges
ii) Gauss’s law is based on inverse square dependence on distance contained in the Coulomb’ law
.Explain
iii)Two charges Q (charge A) and B (charge 2Q) are located at points (0,0,) and (a,a) respectively.Let
i and j be the unit vectors along Xaxis and y axis respectively.Find the force exerted by A on B in
terms of i and j.

27 Two identical electric dipoles are placed along the diagonals of a square ABCD of side √2 m as
shown in the figure .Obtain the magnitude and direction of the net electric field at the centre O of the
square
28 Obtain an expression for thre electric field at a point on the equatorial line of an electric dipole
29 Five point charges each of charge +q are placed on five vertices of a regular hexagon of side l.Find
the magnitude of the resultant force on a charge -q placed at the centre of the hexagon.
30) aUse Gauss’s law to derive the expression for the electric field due to a straight uniformly
charged infinite line of charge density 𝜆𝑐/𝑚
b)Draw a graph showing the variation of E with perpendicular distance r from the line charge

c)Find the work done in bringing a charge q from perpendicular distance 𝑟1 to 𝑟2 (𝑟2 > 𝑟1 )
31a) Derive an expression for the electric field E due to a dipole of length 2a at a point distant r from
the centre of the dipole on the axial line

b)Draw a graph of E versus r for r≫a

c)If this dipole were kept in a uniform external electric field diagrammatically represent the position
of dipole in stable and unstable equilibrium and write the expression for the torque acting on the
dipole in both the cases
REVISED
32 a) Twelve negative charges of same magnitude are equally spaced and fixed on the circumference
of a circle of radius R as shown in fig i.Relative to potential being zero at infinity find the electric
potential and electric field at the centre C of the circle
b)If the charges are unequally spaced and fixed on an arc of 120° of radius R as shown in fig ii
find the electric potential at the centre
33A 100𝜇𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎 12𝑣 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑦
a)How much electrostatic energy is stored by the capacitor?
b)The capacitor is disconnected from the battery and connected in parallel to another uncharged
100𝜇𝑓 capacitor .What is the electrostatic energy stored by the system?

34 Two point charges 𝑄1 (-15𝜇𝑐) 𝑄2 .(10𝜇𝑐) and 𝑄3 (16𝜇𝑐 ) are located at

(0cm,0cm),(0cm,3cm) and (4cm ,3cm) respectively.Calculate the electrostatic potential energy of
this system of charges
35) A simple pendulum consists of a small sphere of mass m suspended by a thread of length l .The
sphere carries a positive charge q .The pendulum is placed in a uniform electric field of strength E
directed vertically downwards .Find the period of oscillation of the pendulum due to the electrostatic
force acting on the sphere neglecting the effect of gravitational force

36 An electron falls though a distance of 1.5cm in a uniform electric field of magnitude 2x104
N/C .Calculate the time it takes to fall through this distance starting from rest
If the direction of the field is reversed keeping its magnitude unchanged calculate the time taken by a
proton to fall through this distance

37 Two identical parallel plate capacitors A and B are connected to a battery of V volt with the
switch S closed.The switch is now opened and then the space between the plates of the capacitors is
filled with a dielectric of constant K.Find the ratio of the total electrostatic energy stored in both
capacitors before and after insertion of the dielectric

38 A charge Q is uniformly distributed within a sphere of radius R.Find the electric field due to this
charge distribution at a point distant r from the centre of the sphere where

i)0< 𝑟 < 𝑅 𝑖𝑖)𝑟 > 𝑅

39) a)A parallel plate capacitor 𝐶1 having charge Q is connected to an identical uncharged capacitor
𝐶2 in series.What would be the charge accumulated on 𝐶2 ?

b)Three identical capacitors each of capacitance 3𝜇𝑓 are connected in turn in series and in parallel
combination to the common source of V volt.Find the ratio of the energies stored in two
configurations
40 The given graph shows variation of charge q versus potential difference V for two capacitors
𝐶1 and 𝐶2 .Both the capacitors have same plate separation but plate area of 𝑐2 is greater than that of
𝑐1 .Which one A or B corresponds to 𝑐1 and why ?

41 A parallel plate capacitor of capacitance C is charged to a potential V .It is then connected to

another uncharged capacitor having the same capacitance .Find out the ratio of the energy stored in
the combined system to that stored initially in the single capacitor

42 A parallel plate capacitor is charged by a battery to a potential.The battery is disconnected and a

dielectric slab is inserted to completely fill the space between the plates .How will its i) capacitance
ii) Electric field between the plates and iii) energy stored in the capacitor be affected ?.Justify your
answer