Point Charges in Uniform Electric Fields

🔖 Topics

• Electric field
• Motion of a point charge in an electric field

🎯 Objectives

• Describe the electric field around different charge configurations
• Calculate the electric force on a point charge due to an electric field
• Determine the motion of an point charge within a uniform electric field

📋 Sequence

• Definition of electric field
• Sketching electric field lines
  • Point charge
  • Ball of charge
  • Plane of charge (direction only)
• Electric field examples

🖥️ Animations, Simulations, Activities

• Electric Field Hockey

📝 Practice Problems

1. What is the difference between an electric field and an electric force?

2. A point charge of $q=-12\mu C$ is immersed in an electric field of $\vec{E}=1000\hat{y}N/C$. What is the magnitude and direction of the force that it will feel?

3. A charge of 10 $\mu C$ is positioned at the origin while another charge of -30 $\mu C$ is positioned at the point (5 cm, 0 cm). Where around the two points (if anywhere) is the net electric force on a positive point charge equal to zero?

4. A particle with a mass of 1.1 kg and a charge of 0.5 mC starts from rest at the origin. I switch on a uniform electric field of $\vec{E}=10.7\hat{x}N/C$ at time $t=0s$. At what position will we find the particle after 5 seconds?

✅ Partial Solutions

1. Refer to your class notes or textbook!
2. 0.012 N in the $-\hat{y}$ direction
3. (-6.83 cm, 0 cm)
4. 0.060795 m

📘 Connected Resources

N/A