A hollow charged conductor has a tiny hole cut into its surface. Show that the σ/2ε0 n̂ , where n̂ is the unit vector in the outward normal direction and σ is the surface charge density near the hole.
Let us consider a conductor with a cavity or a hole. Electric field inside the cavity is zero.
Let E is the electric field just outside the conductor, q is the electric charge, σ is the charge density and ε 0 is the permittivity of free space.
Charge q = σ × ds
According to Gauss’s law, flux, ∅ = E. ds = q/ε0
⇒ E. ds = σ × ds / ε0
∴ E= σ/ 2ε0 n̂
Therefore, the electric field just outside the conductor is σ/ 2ε0 n̂. This field is a superposition of field due to the cavity E` and the field due to the rest of the charged conductor E`. These fields are equal and opposite inside the conductor and equal in magnitude and direction outside the conductor.
∴ E`+ E` = E
⇒ E` = E/2 = σ/2ε0 n̂
Hence, the field due to the rest of the conductor is σ/2ε0 n̂.
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 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?
The electrostatic force on a small sphere of charge 0.4 μC due to another small sphere of charge − 0.8 μC in air is 0.2 N.
(a) What is the distance between the two spheres?
(b) What is the force on the second sphere due to the first?
Two point charges qA = 3 μC and qB = −3 μC are located 20 cm apart in vacuum.
(a) What is the electric field at the midpoint O of the line AB joining the two charges?
(b) If a negative test charge of magnitude 1.5 × 10−9 C is placed at this point, what is the force experienced by the test charge?
An electric dipole with dipole moment 4 × 10−9 C m is aligned at 30° with the direction of a uniform electric field of magnitude 5 × 104N C−1. Calculate the magnitude of the torque acting on the dipole.
A uniformly charged conducting sphere of 2.4 m diameter has a surface charge density of 80.0 μC/m2.
(a) Find the charge on the sphere.
(b) What is the total electric flux leaving the surface of the sphere?
Answer the following questions regarding earth's magnetism:
(a) A vector needs three quantities for its specification. Name the three independent quantities conventionally used to specify the earth's magnetic field.
(b) The angle of dip at a location in southern India is about 18º.
Would you expect a greater or smaller dip angle in Britain?
(c) If you made a map of magnetic field lines at Melbourne in Australia, would the lines seem to go into the ground or come out of the ground?
(d) In which direction would a compass free to move in the vertical plane point to, if located right on the geomagnetic north or south pole?
(e) The earth's field, it is claimed, roughly approximates the field due to a dipole of magnetic moment 8 x 1022 J T-1 located at its centre. Check the order of magnitude of this number in some way.
(f ) Geologists claim that besides the main magnetic N-S poles, there are several local poles on the earth's surface oriented in different directions. How is such a thing possible at all?
(a) Two stable isotopes of lithium 6Li3 and7Li3 have respective abundances of 7.5% and 92.5%. These isotopes have masses 6.01512 u and 7.01600 u, respectively. Find the atomic mass of lithium.
(b) Boron has two stable isotopes, 10B5 and 11B5 . Their respective masses are 10.01294 u and 11.00931 u, and the atomic mass of boron is 10.811 u. Find the abundances of 10B5 and 11B5.
A small candle, 2.5 cm in size is placed at 27 cm in front of a concave mirror of radius of curvature 36 cm. At what distance from the mirror should a screen be placed in order to obtain a sharp image? Describe the nature and size of the image. If the candle is moved closer to the mirror, how would the screen have to be moved?
Figure 8.6 shows a capacitor made of two circular plates each of radius 12 cm, and separated by 5.0 cm. The capacitor is being charged by an external source (not shown in the figure). The charging current is constant and equal to 0.15 A.
(a) Calculate the capacitance and the rate of charge of potential difference between the plates.
(b) Obtain the displacement current across the plates.
(c) Is Kirchhoff’s first rule (junction rule) valid at each plate of the capacitor? Explain.
Monochromatic light of wavelength 589 nm is incident from air on a water surface. What are the wavelength, frequency and speed of
(a) reflected, and
(b) refracted light? Refractive index of water is 1.33.
Two charges 5 x 10-8 C and -3 x 10-8 C are located 16 cm apart. At what point(s) on the line joining the two charges is the electric potential zero? Take the potential at infinity to be zero.
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 difference of 2.3 eV separates two energy levels in an atom. What is the frequency of radiation emitted when the atom makes a transition from the upper level to the lower level?
The energy flux of sunlight reaching the surface of the earth is 1.388 × 103 W/m2. How many photons (nearly) per square metre are incident on the Earth per second? Assume that the photons in the sunlight have an average wavelength of 550 nm.
In Young’s double-slit experiment using monochromatic light of wavelength λ, the intensity of light at a point on the screen where path difference is λ, is K units. What is the intensity of light at a point where path difference is λ /3?
Explain how Corpuscular theory predicts the speed of light in a medium, say, water, to be greater than the speed of light in vacuum. Is the prediction confirmed by experimental determination of the speed of light in water? If not, which alternative picture of light is consistent with experiment?
Two towers on top of two hills are 40 km apart. The line joining them passes 50 m above a hill halfway between the towers. What is the longest wavelength of radio waves, which can be sent between the towers without appreciable diffraction effects?
A spherical conductor of radius 12 cm has a charge of 1.6 x 10-7C distributed uniformly on its surface. What is the electric field
(a) Inside the sphere
(b) Just outside the sphere
(c) At a point 18 cm from the centre of the sphere?
In a double-slit experiment the angular width of a fringe is found to be 0.2° on a screen placed 1 m away. The wavelength of light used is 600 nm. What will be the angular width of the fringe if the entire experimental apparatus is immersed in water? Take refractive index of water to be 4/3.
The radius of the innermost electron orbit of a hydrogen atom is 5.3 ×10 −11 m. What are the radii of the n = 2 and n =3 orbits?
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?