Solutions - Extra practice problems Ch21:

E.21.19, E21.30, E21.42, E21.47, E21.54, E21.58, P21.76, P21.89, P21.90

21.19.IDENTIFY and SET UP: Apply Coulombs law to calculate the force exerted by q2 and q3 on q1. Add these forces
as vectors to get the net force. The target variable is the x-coordinate of q3 .

EXECUTE: F2 is in the x-direction.

F2 =k

q1q2
r122

=3.37 N, so F2 x =+3.37 N

Fx =F2 x + F3 x and Fx =7.00 N

F3 x =Fx F2 x = 7.00 N 3.37 N = 10.37 N
For F3x to be negative, q3 must be on the x-axis.

F3 =k

q1q3
x

, so x =

k q1q3
F3

=0.144 m, so x =0.144 m

EVALUATE: q2 attracts q1 in the +x-direction so q3 must attract q1 in the x-direction, and q3 is at negative
x.

21.30.

IDENTIFY: The net electric field is the vector sum of the individual fields.
SET UP: The distance from a corner to the center of the square is r =

(a/2) 2 + (a/2) 2 = a/ 2 . The magnitude

kq
kq
=
2 2 . All four
2
r
a

of the electric field due to each charge is the same and equal to E=
q
y-components add and the x-components cancel.
EXECUTE: Each y-component is equal to Eqy = Eq cos 45 =

4 2kq
a2

Eq
2

2kq
2a

2kq
a2

. The resultant field is

, in the y -direction.

EVALUATE: We must add the y-components of the fields, not their magnitudes.

21.42.IDENTIFY: The net electric field is the vector sum of the fields due to the individual charges.
SET UP: The electric field points toward negative charge and away from positive charge.

Figure 21.42

EXECUTE: (a) Figure 21.42a shows EQ and E1 q at point P. EQ must have the direction shown, to produce a

resultant field in the specified direction. EQ is toward Q, so Q is negative. In order for the horizontal
components of the two fields to cancel, Q and q must have the same magnitude.
(b) No. If the lower charge were negative, its field would be in the direction shown in Figure 21.42b. The two

possible directions for the field of the upper charge, when it is positive ( E+ ) or negative ( E ), are shown. In
neither case is the resultant field in the direction shown in the figure in the problem.
EVALUATE: When combining electric fields, it is always essential to pay attention to their directions.

21.47.IDENTIFY: E = k

. The net field is the vector sum of the fields due to each charge.
r2
SET UP: The electric field of a negative charge is directed toward the charge. Label the charges q1, q2 and q3 ,
as shown in Figure 21.47a. This figure also shows additional distances and angles. The electric fields at point P
are shown in Figure 21.47b. This figure also shows the xy coordinates we will use and the x and y components

of the fields E1 , E2 and E3.

EXECUTE: E1 =E3 =(8.99 109 N m 2 /C2 )

E2 =(8.99 109 N m 2 /C2 )

2.00 106 C
(0.0600 m) 2

5.00 106 C
(0.100 m) 2

=4.49 106 N/C

=4.99 106 N/C

E y = E1 y + E2 y + E3 y = 0 and E x = E1x + E2 x + E3 x = E2 + 2 E1 cos53.1 = 1.04 107 N/C

E =.
1 04 107 N/C, toward the 2.00 C charge.
EVALUATE: The x-components of the fields of all three charges are in the same direction.

Figure 21.47

21.54.

(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
=

1
1

.
= 2

2
2 e0 x ( x/a ) + 1
4 e0 x ( x/a ) 2 + 1

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

= 3.03 104 N/C, directed upward.
2
6.00 cm
(0.0600 m)
+1
4.25 cm
(b) IDENTIFY: The field is caused by a uniformly charged circular wire.
1
Qx
SET UP: The field for such a wire a distance x from its midpoint is E =
. We first find the
4 e0 ( x 2 + a 2 )3/2
EXECUTE: E =

radius of the circle using 2 r =l.

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

E=

1
(9.00 109 N m 2 /C2 )(14.88 102 9 C/m)(0.0600 m)
Qx
=
3/2
4 e0 ( x 2 + a 2 )3/2
(0.0600 m) 2 + (0.01353 m) 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.

21.58.

IDENTIFY: Calculate the electric field due to the dipole and then apply F = qE .

SET UP: From Example 21.14, Edipole ( x) =

p
2 e0 x3

6.17 1030 C m
EXECUTE: Edipole =
=4.11 106 N/C. The electric force is
2 e0 (3.0 109 m)3

F =qE =(1.60 1019 C)(4.11 106 N/C) =6.58 1013 N and is toward the water molecule (negative
x-direction).

EVALUATE: Edipole is in the direction of p, so is in the +x-direction. The charge q of the ion is negative, so

F is directed opposite to E and is therefore in the x-direction.

21.76.IDENTIFY: For the acceleration (and hence the force) on Q to be upward, as indicated, the forces due to q1 and q2
must have equal strengths, so q1 and q2 must have equal magnitudes. Furthermore, for the force to be upward,

q1 must be positive and q2 must be negative.

SET UP: Since we know the acceleration of Q, Newtons second law gives us the magnitude of the force on it.
We can then add the force components using F = FQq1 cos + FQq2 cos = 2 FQq1 cos . The electrical force on Q
is given by Coulombs law, FQq1 =

1 Qq1
(for q1 ) and likewise for q2 .
4 e0 r 2

EXECUTE: First find the net force: =

F ma
=

2
(0.00500 kg)(324 m/s=
) 1.62 N. Now add the force

components, calling the angle between the line connecting q1 and q2 and the line connecting q1 and Q.

1.62 N
= 1.08 N. Now find the charges by
2.25 cm
2

3.00 cm
solving for q1 in Coulombs law and use the fact that q1 and q2 have equal magnitudes but opposite signs.

F = FQq1 cos + FQq2 cos = 2 FQq1 cos and=

FQq1

FQq1 =

1 Q q1
and q1
=
4 e0 r 2

F
=
2cos

r 2 FQq1
(0.0300 m) 2 (1.08 N)
=
=6.17 108 C.
26
9
2 2
1
.

(9
00
10
N
m
/C
)(1
75
10
C)
Q
4 e0

q2 = q1 =6.17 108 C.
EVALUATE: Simple reasoning allows us first to conclude that q1 and q2 must have equal magnitudes but
opposite signs, which makes the equations much easier to set up than if we had tried to solve the problem in the
general case. As Q accelerates and hence moves upward, the magnitude of the acceleration vector will change in
a complicated way.

21.89.IDENTIFY: Divide the charge distribution into infinitesimal segments of length dx. Calculate E x and E y due to a
segment and integrate to find the total field.
SET UP: The charge dQ of a segment of length dx is dQ = (Q/a ) dx. The distance between a segment at x and
the charge q is a + r x. (1 y ) 1 1 + y when y 1.
EXECUTE: (a) dE x =

a +=
r=
x, so E x

1
dQ
1 a
Qdx
1 Q1
1
so E x
=
=

.

2
2
0
e
4 0 (a + r x)
4 e0 a (a + r x)
4 e0 a r a + r

1 Q 1
1
. E y = 0.

4 e0 a x a x

1 qQ 1
1
(b) F =
qE =

i.
a
r
a
4 e0
+r

kqQ
kqQ
kqQ
1 qQ
1
((1 a/x) =
(1 + a/x + 1) 2
. (Note
1)
ax
ax
4 e0 r 2
x
that for x a, r = x a x.) The charge distribution looks like a point charge from far away, so the force takes
the form of the force between a pair of point charges.

EVALUATE: (c) For x =

a, F

21.90.IDENTIFY: Use Eq. (21.7) to calculate the electric field due to a small slice of the line of charge and integrate as in

Example 21.10. Use Eq. (21.3) to calculate F .

SET UP: The electric field due to an infinitesimal segment of the line of charge is sketched in Figure 21.90.
sin =

cos =

y
x + y2
2

x
x + y2
2

Figure 21.90
Slice the charge distribution up into small pieces of length dy. The charge dQ in each slice=
is dQ Q(dy/a ). The

electric field this produces at a distance x along the x-axis is dE. Calculate the components of dE and then
integrate over the charge distribution to find the components of the total field.
1 dQ
Q dy
E=
XECUTE: dE
=
2

2
4 e0 x + y 4 e0a x 2 + y 2

Qx
dy
dE x dE
=
=
cos
2

2
3/2
4 e0a ( x + y )

Q
ydy
dE sin =

dE y =
2

2
3/2
4 e0 a ( x + y )

Qx a
dy
Qx 1
y
Q
1

=
Ex =

=
dEx =

4 e0a 0 ( x 2 + y 2 )3/2 4 e0a x 2 x 2 + y 2

4 e0 x x 2 + a 2

0
a

a
Q
ydy
Q
1
Q 1
1

=
Ey =
dEy
=

2
2
3/2

0
2
2
2
4 e0a ( x + y )
4 e0a x + y
4 e0a x
x + a2

(b) F = q0 E
qQ 1
1
qE y =
; Fy =

2
4 e0 a x
x +a
x + a2

qQ
qEx =
Fx =
4 e0 x
(c) For x a,

Fx

qQ
4 e0 x

1 a2
= 1 + 2

x
x2 + a2 x
1

, Fy

1/2

1
a2 1 a2
= 1 2 = 3
x 2 x x 2 x

qQ 1 1 a 2
qQa
+
=
4 e0a x x 2 x3 8 e0 x3

qQ
EVALUATE: For x a, Fy Fx and F Fx = 2 and F is in the x-direction. For x a the charge
4 P0 x

distribution Q acts like a point charge.