1.

ELECTROSTATICS
Exercises No. 10

Two point charges are placed on the x-axis as follows: charge 𝑞1 = 4.00 𝑛𝐶 is located at 𝑥 =
10
0.200 𝑚, and charge 𝑞2 = 5.00 𝑛𝐶 is at 𝑥 = −03200 𝑚. What is the magnitude and direction of the
total force exerted by these two charges on a negative point charge 𝑞 = −6.00 𝑛𝐶 that is
placed at the origin?
2. Two particles with equal charge amounts 2.0 𝑥10−7 𝐶 but
opposite signs are held 15 𝑐𝑚 apart. What is the
magnitude and direction of the electric field at the point
midway between the charges?
3. A rectangular sheet of sides 0.400 m and 0.600 m is
immersed in a uniform electric field of magnitude 75.0
N/C. The field is directed at 20 o from the sheet. Find the
magnitude of the electric flux through the sheet
4. A positive charge Q is distributed uniformly throughout an insulating sphere of radius R.
What is the magnitude of the electric field at any point (a) outside the sphere, and (b)
inside the sphere?
5. A point charge q₁=4.00nC is placed at the origin, and a second point charge q₂=-3.00nC is
placed on the x-axis at x=+20.0cm. A third point charge q₃=2.00nC is to be placed on the
x-axis between q₁ and q₂. Let the potential energy of the three charges be zero when they
are infinitely far apart.
(a) What is the potential energy of the system of the three charges if q₃ is placed at
x=+10.0cm?
(b) Where should q₃ be placed to make the potential energy of the system equal to zero?
6. A total electric charge of 3.50nC is distributed uniformly over the surface of a metal
sphere with a radius of 24.0cm. if the potential is zero at a point at infinity, find the value
of the potential at the following distances from the center of the sphere
(a) 48.0cm (b) 24.0cm (c) 12.0cm
7. An air capacitor consisting of two closely spaced parallel plates has a capacitance of 1000pF.
The charge on each plate is 1 micro coulomb. (a) What is the potential difference between
the plates? (b) If the charge is kept constant, what will be the potential difference between
the plates if the separation is doubled? (c) How much work is required to double the
separation?
8. Consider a capacitor made of two 0.05 m2 plates separated by 0.5 mm. If the capacitance
is 3.0nF, what is the dielectric constant, , of the material between the plates?
9. A 3.0 F and a 5.0 F capacitor are connected in
series with a 12 V battery.
(a) Find the equivalent capacitance.
(b) Find the charge on each capacitor.
(c) Find the potential drop (or voltage) across
each capacitor.
10. Figure in the right shows a system of four capacitors,
where the potential difference across ab is 50.0 V.
(a) Find the equivalent capacitance of this system between a
and b.
(b) How much charge is stored by this combination of
capacitors?
(c) How much charge is stored in each of the 10.0-µF and
the 9.0-µF capacitors?

Answers:

1. 2.4 𝑥10−6 𝑁𝒊 1𝑄
4. 𝐸 = ;𝐸 1𝑄
=
2. 6.4 𝑥105 𝑁⁄𝐶 𝑜𝑢𝑡 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟27 𝑖𝑛 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑅3

3. 2
6.16 𝑁𝑚 /𝐶 5.  3.6010
1
J ; 0.075 m or 0.358 m

2
 10
6. a) 65.6V b) 131.3V c) 131.3V
10. a) 3.47 µF, b) 174 µC, c)
7. a) 103 V, b) 2 x 103 V,c)5 x 10-4 J
174 µC
8. 3.4
9. a) 1.875 µF, b) 22.5 µC, c) 7.5 V, 4.5
V
ELECTROSTATICS
Problem Set

Name: Section:

Instructor: Date Submitted:

1. Two point charges are separated by 25.0 cm. Find

2. A hollow, conducting sphere with an outer radius of 0.250 m and an inner radius of 0.200
m has a uniform surface charge density of 6.37 x 10 -6 C/m2. A charge of -0.500 𝜇C is now
introduced into the cavity inside the sphere. (a) What is the new charge density on the
outside of the sphere? (b) Calculate the strength of the electric field just outside the
sphere. (c) What is the electric flux through a spherical surface just inside the inner
surface of the sphere?
3. Two point charges q1=2.40 nC and q2=-6.50 nC are
0.100 m apart. Point A is midway between them; point B
is 0.800 m from q1 and 0.060 m from q2 (see figure on
the right). Take the electric potential to be zero at
infinity. Find (a) the potential at point A; (b) The
potential at point B; (c) the work done by the electric
field on a charge of 2.50 nC that travels from point B to
point A.

4. When a 360-nF air capacitor is connected to a power supply, the energy stored in the
capacitor is 1.85 𝑥10−5 𝐽. While the capacitor is kept connected to the power supply, a slab
of dielectric is inserted that completely fills the space between the plates. This increases
the stored energy by 2.32 𝑥10−5 𝐽. (a) What is the potential difference between the
capacitor plates? (b) What is the dielectric constant of the slab?
5. (a) Draw a circuit diagram showing four capacitors between two points a and b for which
the following expression determines the equivalent capacitance:

(b) Find the value of C1. (c) Assume a 6.00-V battery is connected between a and b. Find
the potential difference across each of the individual capacitors and the charge on each.