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Exercise 1.1

Blandford-Thorne-Applications Classical Physics Solutions

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65 views1 page

Exercise 1.1

Blandford-Thorne-Applications Classical Physics Solutions

Uploaded by

lev76
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Exercise 1.

1 Practice: Energy Change for Charged Particle

Without introducing any coordinates or basis vectors, show that when a


particle with charge q interacts with electric and magnetic fields, its kinetic
energy changes at a rate
dE
= q v · E.
dt
(1.8)

We want to show that the rate of change of the kinetic energy E of a charged
particle interacting with electric and magnetic fields is given by:
dE
= qv · E.
dt
where q is the charge, v is the velocity, and E is the electric field.

The force on a charged particle in the presence of electric and magnetic fields
is given by the Lorentz force law:
F = q(E + v × B),
where B is the magnetic field.

The rate of change of the kinetic energy E is given by the power delivered
by the net force:
dE
= F · v.
dt
Substituting the Lorentz force F = q(E + v × B) into this expression:
dE
= [q(E + v × B)] · v.
dt
Distribute the dot product:
dE
= q(E · v) + q [(v × B) · v] .
dt
The term (v × B) · v vanishes because the cross product of two vectors is
perpendicular to both vectors involved. Specifically:
(v × B) · v = 0.
This is because v × B is perpendicular to v.

Thus, the rate of change of the kinetic energy simplifies to:


dE
= qE · v.
dt
This shows that only the electric field contributes to the change in the particle’s
kinetic energy, while the magnetic field does no work.

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