UNIT-I

CHAPTER 1 – ELECTRIC CHARGES AND FIELDS

OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS

1. In an experiment three microscopic latex spheres are sprayed into a chamber and became charged
with charges +3e, +5e and -3e respectively. All the spheres came in contact simultaneously for a
moment and got separated. Which one of the following gives the possible values for the final
charge on spheres?

(a) +5e, -4e, +5e (b) +6e, +6e, -7e

(c) -4e, +3.5e, +5.5e (d) +5e, -8e, +7e

2. The surface densities on the surfaces of two charged spherical conductors of radii R1 , R2 are equal.
The ratio of electric field intensity on the surface is-

(a) 1 : 1 (b) R1 : R2
(c) (R1 : R2)2 (d) (R2 : R1)2

3. An electric dipole is placed at an angle of 30° with an electric field of intensity 2 x 105 N/C. It
experiences a torque of 4 N m. If the dipole has a length of 2 cm, then the charge on the dipole is-

(a) 8 mC (b) 4 mC
(c) 2 mC (d) 7 mC

4. A system has two charges QA = 3 nC and QB = -3 nC. These are located at points A (0, 0, -8) cm
and B (0, 0, 8) cm respectively. The electric dipole moment of the system is-

(a) 24 x 10-11 Cm (b) 24 x 10-9 Cm (c) 48 x 10-11 Cm (d) 48 x 10-8 Cm

5. When air is replaced by a medium of dielectric constant K, the force of attraction or repulsion between two
charges separated by a distance r-

(a) increases K times (b) decreases K times (c) remains unchanged (d) increases K-2 times

6. A charge q is placed at the centre of a cube of side s. The electric flux passing through two opposite
faces of the cube is –

(a) q / εo (b) q / 2 εo (c) q / 6 εo (d) q /3 εo

7. In which of the following cases is the electric field strength independent of the distance?

(a) Due to a point charge

(b) Due to a line charge
(c) Due to a charged spherical shell
(d) Due to infinite plane charged sheet
8. What will be the value of electric field at the centre of the electric dipole?
(a) zero
(b) Equal to the electric field due to one charge at centre
(c) Twice the electric field due to one charge at the centre
(d) Half the electric field due to one charge at the centre

9. Charge Q is kept in a sphere of radius 5 cm first and later it is kept inside a cube of side 5 cm. The outward
flux will be-

(a) more in case of the sphere. (b) more in case of cube .

(c) same in both the cases. (d) could be more in
either.

10.  E.ds  0 , inside a closed surface means-

(a) There is no net charge present inside the surface

(b) Uniform electric field inside the surface
(c)Discontinues field lines inside the surface
(d)Charge present inside the surface

11. The electric field due to a short dipole on the axial line at a far off point, is proportional to-

(a) r2 (b) r (c) r3 (d) r-3

For questions 12 to 15, two statements are given-one labelled Assertion(A)and the other labelled
Reason (R). Select the correct answer to these questions from the options (a), (b), (c) and (d) as
given below.

(a) If both Assertion and Reason are true and Reason is the correct explanation of Assertion.
(b) If both Assertion and Reason are true but Reason is not the correct explanation of
Assertion.
(c) If Assertion is true but Reason is false.
(d) If both Assertion and Reason are false.

12. Assertion(A): Electric field lines start from positive charges and end at negative charges. If there
is a single charge, they may start or end at infinity.
Reason(R): Field lines are continuous curves and they form closed loops.

13. Assertion (A): In stable equilibrium position of an electric dipole, torque acting on the dipole is
zero.
Reason (R): The dipole moment is parallel to the direction of electric field in this position

14. Assertion (A): The Coulomb force is the dominating force in the universe.
Reason (R): The Coulomb force is weaker than the Gravitational force.

15. Assertion (A): Electric flux is defined as the number of electric field lines crossing a unit area held
normally to the field.
Reason (R): Electric flux through a closed is also equal to the product of permittivity of the free space
and charge enclosed by the surface.
 CASE – BASED QUESTION
Coulomb’s Law:-

This law is a quantitative statement about the force between two-point charges. When the linear sizes of
charged bodies are much smaller than the distance between them, their sizes may be ignored and the charged
bodies are called point charges. After retiring from his active services as a military engineer in 1776,
Coulomb discovered a torsion balance to measure a small quantity of force and used it for determination of
forces of attraction as well as repulsion between small charged spheres. He thus arrived in 1785 at the inverse
square law relation, now known as Coulomb’s law. He found that the force between two-point charges
varied inversely with the square of distance between the charges and was directly proportional to the product
of the magnitude of the charges and acted along the line joining the two charges. Coulomb’s law is an
electrical analogue of Newton’s law of Gravitation. Charges create an electric field around them which
depends on their magnitude and distance from them.

(i) If the magnitude of each of the two point charges is doubled and their distance is halved, the resulting force
of interaction between them becomes n times, where n is-
(a) 4 (b) 1 (c) 18 (d) 16

(ii) The minimum value of force acting between two point charges placed 1 m apart in vacuum from one
another is-

(a) ke2 (b) ke (c) ke/4 (d) ke2 /2

(iii) A and B are two identical spherical charged bodies which repel each other with force F, kept at a finite
distance. A third uncharged sphere of same size is brought in contact with sphere B and removed. It is then
kept at the mid-point of A and B. The magnitude of the force on C will be-

(a) F/2 (b) F/8 (c) F (d) Zero

(iv) For a point charge, the graph between electric field and distance is given by-
 SUBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS
1.Three point charges of 2µC, -3µc and -3µC are kept at the vertices A, B, and C, respectively of an
equilateral triangle of side 20 cm. what should be the sign and magnitude of the charge (q) to be placed at
the midpoint (M) of side BC so that the charge at A remains in equilibrium?

2. (a)Use Gauss's law to show that due to a uniformly charged spherical shell of radius R, the electric field
at any point situated outside the shell at a distance r from its centre is equal to the electric field at the same
point, when the entire charge on the shell were concentrated at its centre. Also plot the graph showing the
variation of electric field with r, for r<R and r> R.

(b) Two point charges of + 1µC and + 4 µC are kept 30 cm apart. How far from the + 1 µC charge on the
line joining the two charges, will the net electric field be zero?

3. Two large, charged plane sheets of charge densities 𝜎 and -2𝜎 𝐶/m2 are arranged vertically with a
separation d between them. Deduce expressions for the electric field at points- (i) to the left of the first
sheet, (ii) to the right of the second sheet, and (iii) between the two sheets.

4. Consider two identical point charges located at points (0,0) and (a,0). (i) Is there a point on the line
joining them at which the electric field is zero? (ii)Is there a point on the line joining them at which the
electric potential is zero? Justify your answer in each case.

5. Using Gauss’s theorem, prove that electric field due to a uniformly charged infinitely long conductor with
linear charge density λ, is inversely proportional to the distance from the wire and directly proportional to
the linear charge density.

6. Using Gauss’s law, derive an expression for the electric field 𝐸 at a point due to a uniformly charged,
infinitely large plane thin sheet with surface charge density 𝜎.

7. Plot a graph showing the variation of Coulomb force F versus 1/r2, where r is the distance between two
charges for each pair of charges as mentioned - (3μC, 4μC) and (5μC,-2 μC).

8. Two charges of magnitude -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?

ANSWERS (SUBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS)

1. 2.25√3 μC 2. 10 cm 3. 𝜎 / 2εo , - 𝜎 / 2εo, 3𝜎 / 2εo 8. –Q / εo