Find the electric field a distance z above the midpoint between two equal charges q,a distance d apart (see Figure 1). What is the electric field of the same configurationof charges in the limiting case z d?
Question
Find the electric field a distance z above the midpoint between two equal charges q,a distance d apart (see Figure 1). What is the electric field of the same configurationof charges in the limiting case z d?
Solution
To solve this problem, we will use Coulomb's Law, which states that the electric field (E) created by a charge (q) at a distance (r) is given by E = k*q/r^2, where k is Coulomb's constant.
Step 1: Determine the position of the charges and the point where we want to find the electric field.
The two charges are located at a distance d apart, and we want to find the electric field at a point z above the midpoint between the two charges.
Step 2: Calculate the electric field created by each charge at the point of interest.
The distance from each charge to the point of interest is sqrt((d/2)^2 + z^2) by Pythagoras' theorem. Therefore, the electric field created by each charge is E = k*q/sqrt((d/2)^2 + z^2)^2.
Step 3: Determine the direction of the electric field created by each charge.
The electric field created by each charge points away from the charge (since the charges are positive), and therefore has a vertical component (Ez) and a horizontal component (Ex). The vertical component is Ez = Ecos(theta), where theta is the angle between the line connecting the charge and the point of interest and the vertical direction. The horizontal component is Ex = Esin(theta).
Step 4: Add up the electric fields created by the two charges.
The total electric field at the point of interest is the vector sum of the electric fields created by the two charges. The vertical components add up, while the horizontal components cancel out (since they point in opposite directions). Therefore, the total electric field is E_total = 2*Ez.
Step 5: Substitute the expressions for Ez and E from steps 2 and 3 into the expression for E_total from step 4.
This gives E_total = 2kq*cos(theta)/sqrt((d/2)^2 + z^2)^2.
Step 6: In the limiting case where z >> d, the charges are very far away from the point of interest compared to their separation distance.
In this case, the electric field at the point of interest is approximately the same as the electric field created by a single charge located at the midpoint between the two charges. Therefore, E_limit = k*2q/z^2.
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