Physics

Electric Fields Worksheet

1. Charges are arranged at the three corners of an isosceles right triangle that is 25 cm on
each leg. The charge at the corner with the right angle is +7 nC and the charge at each
of the two other corners is –5 nC. What is the magnitude and direction of the Electric
Field at a point at the center of the hypotenuse?

2. In Millikan’s Oil Drop Experiment, Robert Millikan measured the electric charge on
an electron by suspending charged oil droplets in an electric field. One way to do this
is to adjust the electric field between two plates so that the electric force exactly
equals the weight of the oil droplet (note – this is not actually how Millikan did his
experiment, but it works for this problem!). Suppose that in one of Millikan’s trials, he
discovered that it took an electric field of 1 x 104 N/C to suspend an oil droplet with a
weight of 9.77 x 10-15 N. What is the charge on this oil droplet? How many electrons
do you suppose are on this droplet?

3. Two point charges are fixed at a distance d apart (see below). Sketch a graph of the
electric field strength, E, with respect to the distance away from q1, x, assuming x = 0
at q1. Consider both positive and negative values of x. Plot E as positive if E points to
the right and negative if E points to the left. Assume q1 = +1.0 x 10-6 C, q2 = +3.0 x
10-6 C, and d = 10 cm.