Question

A charge of +2.00 μC is at the origin and a charge of –3.00 μC is on the y axis at y = 40.0 cm . (a) What is the potential at point a, which is on the x axis at x = 40.0 cm ? (b) What is the potential difference V b − V a when point b is at (40.0 cm, 30.0 cm)? (c) How much work is required to move an electron at rest from point a to rest at point b?

Answer 1

a) Potential in A: -2700 V

b) Potential difference: -26,800 V

c) Work: $4.3\cdot 10^{-15} J$

Explanation:

a)

The electric potential at a distance r from a single-point charge is given by:

$V(r)=\frac{kq}{r}$

where

$k=8.99\cdot 10^9 Nm^{-2}C^{-2}$ is the Coulomb's constant

q is the charge

r is the distance from the charge

In this problem, we have a system of two charges, so the total potential at a certain point will be given by the algebraic sum of the two potentials.

Charge 1 is

$q_1=+2.00\mu C=+2.00\cdot 10^{-6}C$

and is located at the origin (x=0, y=0)

Charge 2 is

$q_2=-3.00 \mu C=-3.00\cdot 10^{-6}C$

and is located at (x=0, y = 0.40 m)

Point A is located at (x = 0.40 m, y = 0)

The distance of point A from charge 1 is

$r_{1A}=0.40 m$

So the potential due to charge 2 is

$V_1=\frac{(8.99\cdot 10^9)(+2.00\cdot 10^{-6})}{0.40}=+4.50\cdot 10^4 V$

The distance of point A from charge 2 is

$r_{2A}=\sqrt{0.40^2+0.40^2}=0.566 m$

So the potential due to charge 1 is

$V_2=\frac{(8.99\cdot 10^9)(-3.00\cdot 10^{-6})}{0.566}=-4.77\cdot 10^4 V$

Therefore, the net potential at point A is

$V_A=V_1+V_2=+4.50\cdot 10^4 - 4.77\cdot 10^4=-2700 V$

b)

Here we have to calculate the net potential at point B, located at

(x = 0.40 m, y = 0.30 m)

The distance of charge 1 from point B is

$r_{1B}=\sqrt{(0.40)^2+(0.30)^2}=0.50 m$

So the potential due to charge 1 at point B is

$V_1=\frac{(8.99\cdot 10^9)(+2.00\cdot 10^{-6})}{0.50}=+3.60\cdot 10^4 V$

The distance of charge 2 from point B is

$r_{2B}=\sqrt{(0.40)^2+(0.40-0.30)^2}=0.412 m$

So the potential due to charge 2 at point B is

$V_2=\frac{(8.99\cdot 10^9)(-3.00\cdot 10^{-6})}{0.412}=-6.55\cdot 10^4 V$

Therefore, the net potential at point B is

$V_B=V_1+V_2=+3.60\cdot 10^4 -6.55\cdot 10^4 = -29,500 V$

So the potential difference is

$V_B-V_A=-29,500 V-(-2700 V)=-26,800 V$

c)

The work required to move a charged particle across a potential difference is equal to its change of electric potential energy, and it is given by

$W=q\Delta V$

where

q is the charge of the particle

$\Delta V$ is the potential difference

In this problem, we have:

$q=-1.6\cdot 10^{-19}C$ is the charge of the electron

$\Delta V=-26,800 V$ is the potential difference

Therefore, the work required on the electron is

$W=(-1.6\cdot 10^{-19})(-26,800)=4.3\cdot 10^{-15} J$