Electric Field of a Finite Line
- assignment Line Sources Using Coulomb's Law
assignment Homework
Line Sources Using Coulomb's Law
Static Fields 2022 (5 years)- Find the electric field around a finite, uniformly charged, straight rod, at a point a distance \(s\) straight out from the midpoint, starting from Coulomb's Law.
- Find the electric field around an infinite, uniformly charged, straight rod, starting from the result for a finite rod.
- group Vector Surface and Volume Elements
group Small Group Activity
30 min.
Vector Surface and Volume Elements
Static Fields 2022 (3 years)Students use known algebraic expressions for vector line elements \(d\vec{r}\) to determine all simple vector area \(d\vec{A}\) and volume elements \(d\tau\) in cylindrical and spherical coordinates.
This activity is identical to Scalar Surface and Volume Elements except uses a vector approach to find directed surface and volume elements.
- assignment Electric Field from a Rod
assignment Homework
Electric Field from a Rod
Static Fields 2022 (4 years) Consider a thin charged rod of length \(L\) standing along the \(z\)-axis with the bottom end on the \(xy\)-plane. The charge density \(\lambda\) is constant. Find the electric field at the point \((0,0,2L)\). - assignment Find Area/Volume from $d\vec{r}$
assignment Homework
Find Area/Volume from \(d\vec{r}\)
Static Fields 2022 (4 years)Start with \(d\vec{r}\) in rectangular, cylindrical, and spherical coordinates. Use these expressions to write the scalar area elements \(dA\) (for different coordinate equals constant surfaces) and the volume element \(d\tau\). It might help you to think of the following surfaces: The various sides of a rectangular box, a finite cylinder with a top and a bottom, a half cylinder, and a hemisphere with both a curved and a flat side, and a cone.
- Rectangular: \begin{align} dA&=\\ d\tau&= \end{align}
- Cylindrical: \begin{align} dA&=\\ d\tau&= \end{align}
- Spherical: \begin{align} dA&=\\ d\tau&= \end{align}
- assignment Gauss's Law for a Rod inside a Cube
assignment Homework
Gauss's Law for a Rod inside a Cube
Static Fields 2022 (3 years) Consider a thin charged rod of length \(L\) standing along the \(z\)-axis with the bottom end on the \(x,y\)-plane. The charge density \(\lambda_0\) is constant. Find the total flux of the electric field through a closed cubical surface with sides of length \(3L\) centered at the origin. - assignment Sphere in Cylindrical Coordinates
assignment Homework
Sphere in Cylindrical Coordinates
Static Fields 2022 (3 years) Find the surface area of a sphere using cylindrical coordinates. - group Scalar Surface and Volume Elements
group Small Group Activity
30 min.
Scalar Surface and Volume Elements
Static Fields 2022 (6 years)Students use known algebraic expressions for length elements \(d\ell\) to determine all simple scalar area \(dA\) and volume elements \(d\tau\) in cylindrical and spherical coordinates.
This activity is identical to Vector Surface and Volume Elements except uses a scalar approach to find surface, and volume elements.
- assignment Differential Form of Gauss's Law
assignment Homework
Differential Form of Gauss's Law
Static Fields 2022 (5 years)For an infinitesimally thin cylindrical shell of radius \(b\) with uniform surface charge density \(\sigma\), the electric field is zero for \(s<b\) and \(\vec{E}= \frac{\sigma b}{\epsilon_0 s}\, \hat s\) for \(s > b\). Use the differential form of Gauss' Law to find the charge density everywhere in space.
- accessibility_new Acting Out Charge Densities
accessibility_new Kinesthetic
10 min.
Acting Out Charge Densities
Static Fields 2022 (5 years)density charge density mass density linear density uniform idealization
Students, pretending they are point charges, move around the room acting out various prompts from the instructor regarding charge densities, including linear \(\lambda\), surface \(\sigma\), and volume \(\rho\) charge densities, both uniform and non-uniform. The instructor demonstrates what it means to measure these quantities. In a remote setting, we have students manipulate 10 coins to model the prompts in this activity and the we demonstrate the answers with coins under a doc cam. - group Electrostatic Potential Due to a Pair of Charges (without Series)
group Small Group Activity
30 min.
Electrostatic Potential Due to a Pair of Charges (without Series)
Static Fields 2022 (3 years) Students work in small groups to use the superposition principle \[V(\vec{r}) = \frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_0}\sum_i \frac{q_i}{\vert\vec{r}-\vec{r}_i\vert}\] to find the electrostatic potential \(V\) everywhere in space due to a pair of charges (either identical charges or a dipole). This activity can be paired with activity 29 to find the limiting cases of the potential on the axes of symmetry. -
Consider the finite line with a uniform charge density from class.
- Write an integral expression for the electric field at any point in space due to the finite line. In addition to your usual physics sense-making, you must include a clearly labeled figure and discuss what happens to the direction of the unit vectors as you integrate.Consider the finite line with a uniform charge density from class.
- Perform the integral to find the \(z\)-component of the electric field. In addition to your usual physics sense-making, you must compare your result to the gradient of the electric potential we found in class. (If you want to challenge yourself, do the \(s\)-component as well!)
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