PHY 102: Introduction to Physics-2

Tutorial-4
(Electrostatics, Coulombs law)
1. of an arc:
A thin rod with a uniform charge per unit length is
bent into the shape of an arc of a circle of radius R. The
arc subtends a total angle 2o, symmetric about the xaxis, as shown in Figure. What is the electric field at
the origin O?

Figure 1.

2. of a cylinder:
(a) A uniformly charged circular cylindrical shell of
radius R and height h has a total charge Q. What is
the electric field at a point P a distance z from the bottom
side of the cylinder as shown in Figure 2?
(b) If the configuration is instead a solid cylinder of
radius R, height h and has a uniform volume charge
density. What is the electric field at P?

Figure 2.

3. Millikens oil drop experiment :

An oil drop of radius r= 1.64 x10-6m and mass density oil =8.51 x102 kg/m3 is
allowed to fall from rest and then enters into a region of constant external field

applied in the downward direction. The oil drop has an unknown electric charge q
(due to irradiation by bursts of X-rays). The magnitude of the electric field is adjusted
until the gravitational force = m =-mg on the oil drop is exactly balanced by
the electric force, =q . Suppose this balancing occurs when the electric field is

=-(1.92 x105N/C).

(a) What is the mass of the oil drop?

(b) What is the charge on the oil drop in units of electronic charge e= 1.6 x10-19 C?