The plates of a parallel plate capacitor have an area of 90 cm2 each and are separated by 2.5 mm. The capacitor is charged by connecting it to a 400 V supply.
(a) How much electrostatic energy is stored by the capacitor?
(b) View this energy as stored in the electrostatic field between the plates, and obtain the energy per unit volume u. Hence arrive at a relation between u and the magnitude of electric field E between the plates.
Area of the plates of a parallel plate capacitor, A = 90 cm2 = 90 × 10 - 4 m2
Distance between the plates, d = 2.5 mm = 2.5 × 10 - 3 m
Potential difference across the plates, V = 400 V
(a) Capacitance of the capacitor is given by the relation,
Electrostatic energy stored in the capacitor is given by the relation,
Where,
= Permittivity of free space = 8.85 × 10 - 12 C2 N - 1 m - 2
Hence, the electrostatic energy stored by the capacitor is 2.55 x 10-6 J
(b) Volume of the given capacitor,
Energy stored in the capacitor per unit volume is given by,
Where,
= Electric intensity = E
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?
An infinite line charge produces a field of 9 × 104 N/C at a distance of 2 cm. Calculate the linear charge density.
For transistor action, which of the following statements are correct:
(a) Base, emitter and collector regions should have similar size and doping concentrations.
(b) The base region must be very thin and lightly doped.
(c) The emitter junction is forward biased and collector junction is reverse biased.
(d) Both the emitter junction as well as the collector junction are forward biased.
The earth's surface has a negative surface charge density of 10-9 C m-2. The potential difference of 400 kV between the top of the atmosphere and the surface results (due to the low conductivity of the lower atmosphere) in a current of only 1800 A over the entire globe. If there were no mechanism of sustaining atmospheric electric field, how much time (roughly) would be required to neutralise the earth's surface? (This never happens in practice because there is a mechanism to replenish electric charges, namely the continual thunderstorms and lightning in different parts of the globe). (Radius of earth = 6.37 x 106 m.)
A hydrogen atom initially in the ground level absorbs a photon, which excites it to the n = 4 level. Determine the wavelength and frequency of the photon.
A charged particle oscillates about its mean equilibrium position with a frequency of 109 Hz. What is the frequency of the electromagnetic waves produced by the oscillator?
Explain what would happen if in the capacitor given in Exercise 2.8, a 3 mm thick mica sheet (of dielectric constant = 6) were inserted between the plates,
(a) While the voltage supply remained connected.
(b) After the supply was disconnected.
A point charge causes an electric flux of −1.0 × 103 Nm2/C to pass through a spherical Gaussian surface of 10.0 cm radius centered on the charge.
(a) If the radius of the Gaussian surface were doubled, how much flux would pass through the surface?
(b) What is the value of the point charge?
(a) A conductor A with a cavity as shown in Fig. 1.36 (a) is given a charge Q. Show that the entire charge must appear on the outer surface of the conductor.
( b) Another conductor B with charge q is inserted into the cavity keeping B insulated from A. Show that the total charge on the outside surface of A is Q + q [Fig. 1.36(b)].
(c) A sensitive instrument is to be shielded from the strong electrostatic fields in its environment. Suggest a possible way.
(a) Consider an arbitrary electrostatic field configuration. A small test charge is placed at a null point (i.e., where E = 0) of the configuration. Show that the equilibrium of the test charge is necessarily unstable.
(b) Verify this result for the simple configuration of two charges of the same magnitude and sign placed a certain distance apart.
Answer the following questions:
(a) A steady current flows in a metallic conductor of non-uniform cross- section. Which of these quantities is constant along the conductor: current, current density, electric field, drift speed?
(b) Is Ohm's law universally applicable for all conducting elements? If not, give examples of elements which do not obey Ohm's law.
(c) A low voltage supply from which one needs high currents must have very low internal resistance. Why?
(d) A high tension (HT) supply of, say, 6 kV must have a very large internal resistance. Why?
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