(a) An electrostatic field line is a continuous curve. That is, a field line cannot have sudden breaks. Why not?

(b) Explain why two field lines never cross each other at any point?

What is the force between two small charged spheres having charges of 2 x 10^-7 C and 3 x 10^-7 C placed 30 cm apart in air?

An infinite line charge produces a field of 9 × 10⁴ N/C at a distance of 2 cm. Calculate the linear charge density.

A polythene piece rubbed with wool is found to have a negative charge of 3 × 10⁻⁷ C.

(a) Estimate the number of electrons transferred (from which to which?)

(b) Is there a transfer of mass from wool to polythene?

A 600 pF capacitor is charged by a 200 V supply. It is then disconnected from the supply and is connected to another uncharged 600 pF capacitor. How much electrostatic energy is lost in the process?

A parallel plate capacitor with air between the plates has a capacitance of 8 pF (1pF = 10^-12 F). What will be the capacitance if the distance between the plates is reduced by half, and the space between them is filled with a substance of dielectric constant 6?

A regular hexagon of side 10 cm has a charge 5 µC at each of its vertices. Calculate the potential at the centre of the hexagon.

A point charge +10 μC is a distance 5 cm directly above the centre of a square of side 10 cm, as shown in Fig. 1.34. What is the magnitude of the electric flux through the square? (Hint: Think of the square as one face of a cube with edge 10 cm.)

A conducting sphere of radius 10 cm has an unknown charge. If the electric field 20 cm from the centre of the sphere is 1.5 × 10³ N/C and points radially inward, what is the net charge on the sphere?

A point charge of 2.0 μC is at the centre of a cubic Gaussian surface 9.0 cm on edge. What is the net electric flux through the surface?

If one of the two electrons of a H₂ molecule is removed, we get a hydrogen molecular ion H₂⁺. In the ground state of an H₂⁺, the two protons are separated by roughly 1.5 Å, and the electron is roughly 1 Å, from each proton. Determine the potential energy of the system. Specify your choice of the zero of potential energy.

A square coil of side 10 cm consists of 20 turns and carries a current of 12 A. The coil is suspended vertically and the normal to the plane of the coil makes an angle of 30º with the direction of a uniform horizontal magnetic field of magnitude 0.80 T. What is the magnitude of torque experienced by the coil?

A polythene piece rubbed with wool is found to have a negative charge of 3 × 10⁻⁷ C.

(a) Estimate the number of electrons transferred (from which to which?)

(b) Is there a transfer of mass from wool to polythene?

Two charged conducting spheres of radii a and b are connected to each other by a wire. What is the ratio of electric fields at the surfaces of the two spheres? Use the result obtained to explain why charge density on the sharp and pointed ends of a conductor is higher than on its flatter portions.

Two moving coil meters, M₁ and M₂ have the following particulars:

R₁ = 10 Ω, N₁ = 30,

A₁ = 3.6 x 10^-3 m2, B1 = 0.25 T

R₂ = 14 Ω, N₂ = 42,

A₂ = 1.8 x 10-3 m2, B₂ = 0.50 T

(The spring constants are identical for the two meters).

Determine the ratio of (a) current sensitivity and (b) voltage sensitivity of M₂ and M₁.

Light of frequency 7.21 × 10¹⁴ Hz is incident on a metal surface. Electrons with a maximum speed of 6.0 × 10⁵ m/s are ejected from the surface. What is the threshold frequency for photoemission of electrons?

 Estimate the distance for which ray optics is good approximation for an aperture of 4 mm and wavelength 400 nm.

In a Young’s double-slit experiment, the slits are separated by 0.28 mm and the screen is placed 1.4 m away. The distance between the central bright fringe and the fourth bright fringe is measured to be 1.2 cm. Determine the wavelength of light used in the experiment.