Unit 4 Topic 2: Electric and Magnetic Fields Electric fields An object with mass 10kg falls from rest

off the top of a 15m building. Find: 1. The force on the mass. 2. The total kinetic energy gained by the object. 3. The kinetic energy gained per kg of mass per meter of distance. An object with charge 10C begins from rest and experiences a constant electric force of 98N. Find: 1. The force per unit charge. 2. The total kinetic energy gained by the object after travelling 10m. 3. The kinetic energy gained per coulomb of charge per meter of distance.

A field is:

Analogy between:

Gravitational field

Electric field

Questions: 1. An electron is accelerated from rest across a potential difference of 50 V in a uniform electric field, travelling 20 mm in the process. Calculate: a. Its final kinetic energy in joules and in eV. b. The electric field strength. c. The magnitude of the force acting on the electron. 2. A bolt of lightning transfers 15 C of charge and 500 MJ of energy to the ground, from a storm cloud 8 km above the ground. a. Calculate the potential difference between the cloud and the ground. b. The electric potential of the cloud is higher than that of the ground. What was its polarity (i.e. positive or negative)? c. Find the electric force (magnitude and direction) a raindrop in the cloud with a charge of -24C would experience. (Hint: Find the electric field first. What assumption will you have to make?)

Electric force: magnitude and direction

Electric field line diagrams show us:

Rules for drawing electric field lines:

Equipotentials are:

Some typical electric field line diagrams:

Questions: 1. According to classical physics, a hydrogen atom comprises an electron orbiting a proton at a distance of 0.053 nm. a. Draw an electric field line diagram for the electron and the proton. b. Find the force acting on the electron. What is its centripetal acceleration? 2. A mad scientist is trying to suspend a sphere against gravity. The sphere has mass 2.8 g and charge +0.042 C, and the scientist wants to suspend it at a height of 15 cm above another charged sphere, fastened to the floor. a. What must the polarity of the second sphere be? (positive or negative) b. Draw an electric field line diagram for the two spheres. c. Find the magnitude of the charge which the second sphere should have. d. Explain, without calculations, how your answer to (c) would change if the distance between the two spheres should be doubled. 3. Another mad scientist claims to have invented a device that can confine protons in a ring. When the device is turned on, it generates an electric field such that protons which try to leave (either by moving away from or towards the centre of the ring) find themselves forced back into the ring. a. Draw a possible electric field line diagram for the field produced. b. Predict what would happen if an electron were placed in the centre of the field you drew in (a).