FUNDAMENTAL ELECTROSTATICS and COULOMB’S LAW - EXERCISES (SOLUTIONS)

(Take k = 9.0 x 109 N.m2/C2)

Q.1. A pair of like charged bodies repel each other with a force of 2.0 x 10-6 N.
If the charge on one body is halved, the charge on the other body is tripled, and the bodies are
moved to be only half as far apart, what electrical force do the charged bodies experience now?

A (q) B (q) F = 2.0 x 10-6 N

F = 2.0 x 10-6 N

A (q/2) B (3q)

Fe = ?
q A qB
Fe = k
r2
q A ...(× 12 ) q B ...(×3)
∴ Fe ∝
r 2 ...(× 12 ) 2
∴ Fe ( NEW ) = 6 × Fe ( OLD )
∴ Fe ( NEW ) = 6 × (2.0 × 10 −6 )
∴ Fe ( NEW ) = 1.2 × 10 −5 N
Q.2. Two equally charged identical conducting balls, A and B, repel each other with a force of
4 x 10-6 N.
A third identical, but neutral conducting ball, C, is touched to ball A, then in turn touched to
ball B and left there touching ball B.
Determine the force now experienced by ball A.

F = 4 x 106 N A (q) B (q) F = 4 x 106 N

\

A (q/2) B (3q/4)

C (3q/4)

Fe = ?
q A qB
Fe = k
r2
∴ Fe ∝ q A ...(× 1 2 ) q B ...(× 3 2 )
∴ Fe ( NEW ) = 3
4 × Fe (OLD )
∴ Fe ( NEW ) = 3
4 × (4 × 10 −6 )
∴ Fe ( NEW ) = 3 × 10 −6 N
Ball A now ex periences a force of 3 × 10 −6 N

Q.3. Two identical conducting balls, A and B, each carry a like charge, “12q”, and are spaced “r”
apart. At this separation, each experiences a repulsion force, “F”.
Suppose a third identical, but neutral conducting ball, C, is first touched to ball A, then touched
to ball B, and then placed midway between them.
Determine the resultant force (compared to “F”) now experienced by conducting ball, C.

A (12q) B (12q)
F F

A (6q) C (9q) B (9q)

FA on C = ? FB on C = ?
q A qC q B qC
Fe = k Fe = k
r2 r2
q A ...(× 12 ) qC ...(× 3 4 ) q B ...(× 3 4 ) qC ...(× 3 4 )
∴ Fe ∝ ∴ Fe ∝
r 2 ...(× 12 ) 2 r 2 ...(× 12 ) 2
∴ Fe ( NEW ) = 1.5 × Fe (OLD ) ∴ Fe ( NEW ) = 2.25 × Fe (OLD )
∴ FA on C = 1 .5 F directed to the right. ∴ FA on C = 2.25 F directed to the left.

Hence, the resultant force on ball C is 0.75 F directed to the left.

Q.4. An identical pair of conducting balls, each charged identically, are vertically suspended at the end
of insulating threads from a common ceiling point.
They repel each other, and the geometry of the static equilibrium situation is as shown in the
diagram below.
Given that the mass of each ball is 0.50 kg, determine the identical charge carried by each ball.

g = 10 N/kg
60 °

Fe

T 30 ° m.g

Tension,T

Fe
" "

5.0 cm
m.g

q = ?
q1 q 2
Fe = k
r2
q2
∴ Fe = k 2
r
Fe = ?
From the vector diagram shown above :
Fe = m g Tan30°
∴ Fe = 0.5 × 10 × 0.577
∴ Fe = 2.89 N
2
q
∴ 2.89 = 9 × 10 9
(5.0 × 10 − 2 ) 2
∴ q = 9.0 × 10 −7 C

Q.5. Determine the electric field, 𝐸𝐸�⃑ , 40 cm from a

positively charged point source of 8.0 x 10-6 C. point in space

 E = k.Q / r2 (N/C)
E = ? + + r = 40 cm
+
Q + +
E = k 2 Q= +8.0 x 10 C
+
-6

r +
+

8.0 × 10 −6
∴ E = 9 × 10 9
(40 × 10 − 2 ) 2
∴ E = 4.5 × 10 5 N /C directed outward .
Q.6. Determine the electric field, 𝐸𝐸�⃑ , 40 cm from a
negatively charged point source of 8.0 x 10-6 point in space C.
 E = k.Q / r2 (N/C)
E = ?
+ + + r = 40 cm

Q + +
E = k 2 -6
Q= -8.0 x 10 C
+
r +
+
−6
8.0 × 10
∴ E = 9 × 10 9
(40 × 10 − 2 ) 2
∴ E = 4.5 × 10 5 N /C directed inward .

Q.7. A small conducting sphere of mass, 3.0 x 10-10 kg is carrying a negative charge of –1.5 x 10-6
C.
The charged sphere is now placed between a horizontal pair of charged plates, and when
released, is observed to sit stationary in the space between the plates.

Fe
• E

m.g

(i) Draw a labelled diagram, showing the charge on the horizontal plates, the electric
field, 𝐸𝐸�⃑ , pattern between the plates, and all the forces acting on the negatively charged
sphere.

(ii) Calculate the value of the uniform electric field, 𝐸𝐸�⃑ , between the plates.

E = ?
Fe = qE
Fe = ?
Since the sphere is stationary :
Fe = m g
∴ Fe = (3.0 × 10 −10 ) × 10
∴ Fe = 3.0 × 10 −9 N

∴ 3.0 × 10 −9 = (1.5 × 10 −6 ) E
∴ E = 2.0 × 10 −3 N /C directed down.
Q.8. The diagram below show the arrangement of three bodies, A, B and C. calculate the
electric field, 𝐸𝐸�⃑ , at point, P.

To determine the electric field at point P:

E due to A = ?
QA
E due to A = k
r2
2.0 × 10 −5
∴ E due to A = 9 × 10 9
(20 × 10 − 2 ) 2
∴ E due to A = 4.5 × 10 6 N /C down.
_______ _____________________
E due to B = zero
_______ _____________________
Q
E due to C = k 2C
r
9 5.0 × 10 − 6
∴ E due to C = 9 × 10
(10 × 10 − 2 ) 2
∴ E due to C = 4.5 × 10 6 N /C to the right.

Hence,

6 45 Eat P = 6.4 x 106 N/C

4.5 x 10 N/C

4.5 x 106 N/C

Q.9. The following diagram shows an arrangement of a pair of point charges.

Find the electric field, 𝐸𝐸�⃑ , at point X in the arrangement.

Q = +60 µC Q = -40 µC
A B

2√3 cm
A B

1.0 cm

2.0 cm 2.0 cm

Step 1: Work out direction of electric field due to each charge at point X.

• See blue and orange arrows above

Step 2: Find the strength of the electric field from both A and B.

𝑘𝑘𝑄𝑄𝐴𝐴 𝑘𝑘𝑄𝑄𝐴𝐴
����⃑
𝐸𝐸𝐴𝐴 = ����⃑
𝐸𝐸𝐵𝐵 =
𝑟𝑟𝐴𝐴2 𝑟𝑟𝐴𝐴2

(9 × 109 )(60 × 10−6 ) (9 × 109 )(−40 × 10−6 )

����⃑
𝐸𝐸𝐴𝐴 = ����⃑
𝐸𝐸𝐵𝐵 =
(0.02)2 (0.02)2

����⃑
𝐸𝐸𝐴𝐴 = 1.35 × 109 𝑁𝑁/𝐶𝐶 𝑁𝑁
����⃑
𝐸𝐸𝐵𝐵 = −9 × 108
𝐶𝐶

Step 3: Vectorially add the electric fields together to form the resultant.
 Q = +60 µC Q = -40 µC
A B

2√3 cm
A B

1.0 cm

2.0 cm 2.0 cm

X
θ

• Find the angle, θ:

𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
𝜃𝜃 = 2 × (cos −1 ( ))
ℎ𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦

1
𝜃𝜃 = 2 × (cos −1 ( ))
2

𝜃𝜃 = 1200

• Use cosine rule to find magnitude of �������������������⃑

𝐸𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟

(𝐸𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 )2 = (𝐸𝐸𝐴𝐴 )2 + (𝐸𝐸𝐵𝐵 )2 − 2(𝐸𝐸𝐴𝐴 )(𝐸𝐸𝐵𝐵 ) cos 1200

(𝐸𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 )2 = (1.35 × 109 )2 + (9 × 108 )2 − 2(1.35 × 109 )(9 × 108 ) cos 1200

𝐸𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = �(1.35 × 109 )2 + (9 × 108 )2 − 2(1.35 × 109 )(9 × 108 ) cos 1200

𝐸𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 1.96 × 109 𝑁𝑁/𝐶𝐶

• Use sine rule to find the direction of �������������������⃑

𝐸𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟

sin 1200 sin 𝛽𝛽

=
1.96 × 109 9 × 108

−1
(9 × 108 ) sin 1200
𝛽𝛽 = sin � �
1.96 × 109

𝛽𝛽 = 23.4𝑜𝑜
 • Final answer for �������������������⃑
𝐸𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 with direction is:

1.96 x 109 N/C at 23.40 north of EA

Q.10. The electric force between two identically charged spheres was measured at various
distances and plotted to produce figure 1:

Use the graph to determine the charge in micro coulombs of each sphere.

1 𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄
𝐹𝐹 =
4𝜋𝜋𝜀𝜀0 𝑟𝑟 2

𝐶𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠:

1
∴ 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 = 𝑄𝑄2
4𝜋𝜋𝜀𝜀0

𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔:

8.4 ×105 −5×105

𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 =
10×106 −6×106

= 0.085

∴ �4𝜋𝜋𝜀𝜀0 × 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 = 𝑄𝑄

�(9 × 109 )−1 × 0.085 = 𝑄𝑄

∴ 3.073 × 10−6 𝐶𝐶 = 𝑄𝑄

∴ 𝑄𝑄 = 3.07𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇