Electric Charge and Electric Field

21.52.

IDENTIFY: For a long straight wire, E =

SET UP:

1
= 1.80 1010 N m 2 /C2 .
2 !0
1.5 1010 C/m
= 1.08 m
2 !0 (2.50 N/C)

EXECUTE: r =

21.53.

2 !0r

21-25

EVALUATE: For a point charge, E is proportional to 1/r 2 . For a long straight line of charge, E is
proportional to 1/r.
IDENTIFY: For a ring of charge, the electric field is given by Eq. (21.8). F = qE . In part (b) use

Newtons third law to relate the force on the ring to the force exerted by the ring.
SET UP: Q = 0.125 109 C, a = 0.025 m and x = 0.400 m.
EXECUTE: (a) E =

Qx

4 !0 ( x + a 2 )3/2
2

i = (7.0 N/C) i.

(b) Fon ring = Fon q = qE = (2.50 106 C)(7.0 N/C) i = (1.75 105 N) i
21.54.

EVALUATE: Charges q and Q have opposite sign, so the force that q exerts on the ring is attractive.
(a) IDENTIFY: The field is caused by a finite uniformly charged wire.
SET UP: The field for such a wire a distance x from its midpoint is

E=
EXECUTE: E =

=2
.
2 !0 x ( x/a) 2 + 1
4 !0 x ( x/a) 2 + 1

(18.0 109 N m 2 /C2 )(175 109 C/m)

2

6.00 cm
4.25 cm

(0.0600 m)

= 3.03 104 N/C, directed upward.

+1

(b) IDENTIFY: The field is caused by a uniformly charged circular wire.

SET UP: The field for such a wire a distance x from its midpoint is E =

1
Qx
. We first find
4 !0 ( x 2 + a 2 )3/2

the radius of the circle using 2 r = l.

EXECUTE: Solving for r gives r = l/2 = (8.50 cm)/2 = 1.353 cm.
The charge on this circle is Q = l = (175 nC/m)(0.0850 m) = 14.88 nC.
The electric field is
E=

21.55.

Qx

4 ! 0 ( x + a )
2

2 3/2

(9.00 109 N m 2 /C2 )(14.88 1029 C/m)(0.0600 m)

(0.0600 m)2 + (0.01353 m)2

3/ 2

E = 3.45 104 N/C, upward.

EVALUATE: In both cases, the fields are of the same order of magnitude, but the values are different
because the charge has been bent into different shapes.
IDENTIFY: We must use the appropriate electric field formula: a uniform disk in (a), a ring in (b) because
all the charge is along the rim of the disk, and a point-charge in (c).
(a) SET UP: First find the surface charge density (Q/A), then use the formula for the field due to a disk of
charge, E x =

1
1
.
2!0
( R/x )2 + 1

EXECUTE: The surface charge density is =

Q
Q
6.50 109 C
= 1.324 C/m 2 .
= 2=
A r
(0.0125 m) 2

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