PHYS 102 – General Physics I Midterm Exam 1 Solutions

Duration: 90 minutes Saturday, 09 November 2019; 14:00

1. Positive charge Q is distributed uniformly along the positive y-axis between 𝑦 = 0 and 𝑦 = 𝑎. A negative point
charge – 𝑄 is fixed on the negative y-axis at 𝑦 = −𝑎.
𝑦
(a) (8 Pts.) What is the expression for the electric field created by the point charge on the 𝑑𝑄
x-axis for 𝑥 > 0?
𝑎 √𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2
(b) (9 Pts.) What is the expression for the electric potential created by the line of charge 𝑦
on the x-axis for 𝑥 > 0? 𝑥 𝑥
𝜃 ⃗
(c) (9 Pts.) What is the x-component of the total electric field on the x-axis for 𝑥 > 0? 𝑬𝑄
𝑎
(d) (9 Pts.) What is the magnitude of the force exerted on the point charge by the line √𝑥 2 + 𝑎2
charge distribution?
−𝑄

Solution:
1 𝑄 𝑥 𝑎 1 −𝑄𝑥 1 −𝑄𝑎
⃗ 𝑄| =
(a) |𝑬 , cos 𝜃 = , sin 𝜃 = . 𝐸𝑥 = 4𝜋𝜖 , 𝐸𝑦 = 4𝜋𝜖
4𝜋𝜖 0 (𝑥 2 +𝑎2 ) √𝑥 2 +𝑎 2 √𝑥 2 +𝑎2 0 (𝑥 2 +𝑎2 )3/2 0 (𝑥 2 +𝑎 2 )3/2

−𝑄(𝑥 𝒊̂ + 𝑎 𝒋̂)
⃗𝑬𝑄 =
4𝜋𝜖0 (𝑥 2 + 𝑎2 )3/2
𝑑𝑄 𝑄 𝑎 𝑄𝑑𝑦 𝑄 𝑎 𝑑𝑦
(b) 𝑑𝑉 = , 𝑑𝑄 = 𝑎 𝑑𝑦, → 𝑉 = ∫0 = 4𝜋𝜖 ∫0 2 2
4𝜋𝜖0 √𝑥 2 +𝑦2 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑎√𝑥 2 +𝑦 2 0 𝑎 √𝑥 +𝑦

𝑄 𝑄 𝑎 + √𝑥 2 + 𝑎2
𝑉= [ln(𝑎 + √𝑥 2 + 𝑎2 ) − ln 𝑥] = ln [ ]
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑎 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑎 𝑥
𝑑𝑉 𝑄 𝑥 1 𝑎+√𝑥 2 +𝑎 2 𝑄
(c) For the line charge 𝐸𝑥 = − 𝑑𝑥 = 4𝜋𝜖 ( )( − 𝑥2
) = .
0 𝑎 𝑎+√𝑥 2 +𝑎2 √𝑥 2 +𝑎 2 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑥√𝑥 2 +𝑎2

Therefore, the x-component of the total electric field on the x-axis is

𝑄 1 𝑥
𝐸𝑥 = [ − 2 ]
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑥√𝑥 2 + 𝑎2 (𝑥 + 𝑎2 )3/2

(d) Magnitude of the electric field created by the point charge at the position of the selected infinitesimal section of the
line charge is
𝑄
𝐸=
4𝜋𝜖0 (𝑎 + 𝑦)2
The force on the infinitesimal section is therfore

𝑄 𝑄 2 𝑑𝑦 𝑄2 𝑎
𝑑𝑦 𝑄 2 −1 1
𝑑𝐹 = 𝑑𝑄 = → 𝐹 = ∫ = [ + ]
4𝜋𝜖0 (𝑎 + 𝑦)2 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑎(𝑎 + 𝑦)2 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑎 0 (𝑎 + 𝑦)2 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑎 2𝑎 𝑎

𝑄2
𝐹=
8𝜋𝜖0 𝑎2
2. A solid conducting sphere with radius R carries a positive total charge Q. The sphere is surrounded by an insulating
shell with inner radius R and outer radius 2R. The insulating shell has a uniform volume charge density 𝜌.
(a) (10 Pts.) Find the value of 𝜌 so that the net charge of the entire system is zero.

(b) (20 Pts.) If 𝜌 has the value found in part (a), find the electric field ⃗𝑬 (magnitude and direction) in each of the regions
0 < 𝑟 < 𝑅, 𝑅 < 𝑟 < 2𝑅, and 𝑟 > 2𝑅.

Solution:
4 4 28
(a) The volume of the insulating shell is 𝑉 = 3 𝜋(2𝑅)3 − 3 𝜋𝑅 3 = 3
𝜋𝑅 3 . Zero net charge requires that

28 3𝑄
−𝑄 = 𝜌 ( 𝜋𝑅 3 ) → 𝜌 = −
3 28𝜋𝑅 3

(b) For 𝑟 < 𝑅, 𝐸 = 0 since this region is within the conducting sphere. For 𝑟 > 2𝑅, 𝐸 = 0, since the net charge
enclosed by a Gaussian sphere with this radius is zero. For 𝑅 < 𝑟 < 2𝑅, Gauss’s law

𝑄𝒆𝒏𝒄
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ =
⃗ ∙ 𝒅𝑨
∮ 𝑬
𝑆 𝜖0

gives

𝑄 4𝜋𝜌 3 𝑄 𝜌
𝐸(4𝜋𝑟 2 ) = + (𝑟 − 𝑅 3 ) → 𝐸 = 2
+ (𝑟 3 − 𝑅 3 )
𝜖0 3𝜖0 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟 3𝜖0 𝑟 2

Using the expression found for 𝜌 in part (a), we find

2𝑄 𝑄𝑟
𝐸= 2
−
7𝜋𝜖0 𝑟 28𝜋𝜖0 𝑅3
3. The switch S in the circuit shown has been open for a very long time and the unconnected capacitor which has
capacitance 3C is not charged.
𝑅 𝑆
(a) (5 Pts.) What is the charge on the other capacitor?
At time 𝑡 = 0 the switch S is closed.
+ 𝐼(𝑡) =?
(b) (15 Pts.) Find the current on the resistor I(t) as a function
𝐶 3𝐶
of time after the switch is closed. 𝑉
(c) (15 Pts.) What is the total energy lost by the battery from
the time the switch is closed to infinity?

Solution:
(a) 𝑄0 = 𝐶𝑉
𝑅

(b) After the switch S is closed, we have the following circuit with the
+ 𝐼(𝑡) =? +
4𝐶 capacitor initially charged with charge 𝑄0 = 𝐶𝑉. Writing the loop rule,
4𝐶
we have 𝑉
𝑄
𝑉 − 𝐼𝑅 − =0
4𝐶
𝑑𝑄
Using 𝐼 = , and rearranging the equation, we get
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑄 𝑑𝑡
=
4𝐶𝑉 − 𝑄 4𝑅𝐶

Integrating both sides noting that 𝑄(0) = 𝐶𝑉, the result is found as

𝑄(𝑡) = 𝐶𝑉(4 − 3𝑒 −𝑡/(4𝑅𝐶) )

𝑑𝑄
Since 𝐼 = 𝑑𝑡
, we find

3𝑉 −𝑡/(4𝑅𝐶)
𝐼(𝑡) = 𝑒
4𝑅

(c)
lim 𝑄(𝑡) = 4𝐶𝑉 , 𝑄(0) = 𝐶𝑉 → ∆𝑄 = 3𝐶𝑉
𝑡→∞

∆𝑊 = 𝑉 ∆𝑄 → ∆𝑊 = 3𝐶𝑉 2