A10288W1

FIRST PUBLIC EXAMINATION

Trinity Term

Preliminary Examination in Physics

Paper CP2: PHYSICS 2

Tuesday 6 June 2017, 2.30 pm – 5.00 pm

Time allowed: 2 21 hours

Answer all of Section A and three questions from Section B.

Start the answer to each question on a new page.

The use of approved calculators is permitted.

A list of physical constants, mathematical formulae

and conversion factors accompanies this paper.

The numbers in the margin indicate the weight that the Moderators expect to
assign to each part of the question.

Do NOT turn over until told that you may do so.

1
 Section A

1. An old-fashioned television set has a screen 50 cm across and uses an evacuated

cathode ray tube: an electron gun behind the screen fires electrons with initial energy
100 eV in the direction of the centre of the screen. Before reaching the screen these
electrons pass between a pair of parallel conducting plates located 30 cm behind the
screen and at right angles to the screen. If the plates are squares of side 1 cm, and are
separated by 1 cm, calculate the range of voltages between the two plates which are
required to produce a display across the full width of the television screen. [You may
ignore edge effects for the plates and the influence of gravity.] [5]

2. A wire forms a closed circular ring of enclosed area A, resistance R and self-
inductance of L. A spatially-uniform external magnetic field is applied normal to the
plane of the ring, and the amplitude of the magnetic flux density varies with time as
B = B0 cos ωt, where B0 and ω are constants. Find expressions for the e.m.f. and
the current induced in the ring due to the applied field. Find an expression for the
time-average of the power dissipated in the ring. [6]

3. Two infinite sheets of electric charge, one with surface charge density +σ and the
other with surface charge density −σ, intersect in the centre at right angles. Find the
magnitude and direction of the E-field, and sketch the E-field lines. [5]

RR
4. What are the fluxes of E-field ( Area E · dA) through each of the faces of a cube
of side a in the following cases:
i) if a point charge q is placed at the centre of the cube;
ii) if a point charge q is placed at one of the corners of the cube?
[Hint: you do not need to evaluate the surface integral directly if you consider the
symmetries.] [4]

5. Starting from Maxwell’s equations in a vacuum, show that the E-field of an electro-
magnetic wave obeys a wave equation, and find the velocity of propagation. If the E-field
is polarized along the x-axis and varies as E = E0 cos(k z−ω t) x̂, where E0 = 100 V m−1 ,
derive an expression for the magnetic flux density vector B and calculate the amplitude
of the B-field. [7]

6. State the lens maker’s formula, relating the focal length f to the positions of the
source (u) and image (v) relative to the centre of the lens along the optical axis. If the
human eye can focus on an object as close as 25 cm, what is the maximum magnification
of a magnifying glass consisting of a converging lens with focal length 4 cm? Sketch a ray
diagram for the case of maximum magnification, and state whether the image produced
is real or virtual. [6]

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 7. The circuit below includes an ideal operational amplifier (i.e. with very large gain).
The input voltage is Vin = V0 cos(ωt) where V0 and ω are positive constants, and the
angular frequency ω is in the middle of the amplifier’s bandwidth.

R2

C
R1
V‒
Vin -
Vout
+
V+

Find an expression for the ratio Vout /Vin . If R1 = R2 , what is the phase difference
between Vout and Vin ? [7]

Section B

8. Two long hollow metal cylinders are coaxial. The inner cylinder has radius r1 and
the outer has radius r2 , and there is a vacuum between the two cylinders. The outer
cylinder is maintained at a constant potential difference V with respect to the inner
one. Find expressions for the electric field E between the two cylinders (r1 < r < r2 ),
and the capacitance per unit length. [5]
By integrating the energy density of the E-field over the volume between the two
cylinders, show that the energy stored in the capacitor is 21 CV 2 . [4]
Between the cylinders there is a uniform magnetic flux density B parallel to the
axis of the cylinders. Show that protons (mass m and charge +e) of a particular speed
v can orbit at a radius r between the cylinders if v satisfies a quadratic equation of the
form
a v2 + b v + c = 0
and find expressions for a, b and c in terms of the variables given. [You may ignore the
effect of gravity and may assume the protons travel with non-relativitistic speeds.] [8]
Calculate the speeds of protons orbiting between the cylinders at a radius of 5 cm
in a magnetic flux density of B = 0.01 T if the cylinders have radii r1 = 0.04 m and
r2 = 0.06 m and a potential difference of 20 V. [3]

A10288W1 3 [Turn over]

 9. Write down the Biot-Savart law, and use this to derive the magnitude and direc-
tion of the B-field produced by a thin wire of length 2a carrying a current I, at a point
along the perpendicular bisector of the wire, at a distance s from the centre of the wire.
Show that this is consistent with Ampère’s law for an infinitely long wire. [6]
Consider two parallel very long wires separated by distance d each with a current
I flowing in opposite directions. What is the force per unit length between the wires,
and will they attract or repel each other? Calculate the self-inductance per unit length
of this system, assuming that the wires are thin. [6]
Three parallel infinite wires of negligible width are co-planar, evenly spaced by
1 cm and each carry current of 1 A in the same direction, as in the diagram below. Each
wire has a mass per unit length, µm , of 1 g m−1 .

1 cm
y
1 cm

Draw the magnetic field lines around the wires, and calculate the position(s) where the
magnetic flux density is zero. [3]
The entire middle wire is displaced a small amount in the y-direction (perpendic-
ular to the initial plane of the three wires), while the other two wires are held fixed.
Describe the subsequent motion of the middle wire when it is released, give an expres-
sion for the relevant timescale of its motion, and calculate a value for this timescale.
[5]

10. Explain what is meant by Fraunhofer diffraction. [3]

A slit of width w is illuminated at normal incidence by a collimated beam of
coherent light of wavelength λ. Derive an expression for the intensity distribution as a
function of angle for the diffraction pattern in the Fraunhofer limit. [6]
What is meant by the Rayleigh criterion? Use this to find an expression for the
diffraction-limited angular resolution of a single slit. [3]
A spy satellite orbits 200 km above the surface of the Earth and observes light at
visible wavelengths. Estimate the size of the main mirror on the spy satellite if it is able
to read the headlines of a tabloid newspaper, with a font thickness of 3 cm. You may
assume that only diffraction affects the resolution. [4]
A digital camera is used to record the image at the focus of the spy satellite’s
main mirror. If the main mirror of the spy satellite has a focal length of 80 m, estimate
the maximum distance between the centres of adjacent pixels for the camera to fully
resolve the newspaper headlines. Using these size pixels, how large a format would the
camera need to be (in terms of the number of pixels across) in order to image all of the
High Street in Oxford with one exposure? [Oxford High Street is about 500 m long.] [4]

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 11. A straight air-cored solenoid consists of N turns of wire, with each turn being a
circular coil of radius a. If the solenoid is very long (length l  a) and carries a current
I, find expressions for the magnetic field within the solenoid, and for the self-inductance
(L) of the solenoid. If the number of turns per unit length is 2000 turns m−1 , and the
solenoid has a diameter of 2 cm and a length of 50 cm, calculate the self-inductance, L. [4]
This solenoid (of negligible resistance) is used in the circuit below, along with
resistors R1 = 10 Ω and R2 = 100 Ω and a voltage V0 = 100 V. The switch S is initially
open (position 1) and no current flows. The switch is then closed (moving to position 2)
at time t = 0. What is the current in resistor R2 when the switch is just closed? What
value does the current in R2 tend towards when the switch has been closed for a long
time, and why? Write down an expression for the current flowing through the inductor
as a function of time. [7]

1
R1

2
S
+
V0 L R2

Calculate the total energy that has been dissipated in resistor R2 since t = 0 after
the switch has been closed for a long time. [5]
If, after being closed for a long time, the switch is now re-opened (i.e. moved back
to position 1), calculate the resulting heat dissipated in resistor R2 if the switch remains
open for a long time. [4]

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