P 6C

P M Q

Name:
Midterm: Wednesday 31 October 2007

Instructions: In preparation for the midterm next week, here are some sample problems. Note that:

• These sample questions cover all of the possible material and questions types, and should serve as a
comprehensive studying guide.

• Some of these sample questions may even appear on the midterm (with different numbers, of course).

• An answer sheet will not be provided, but TAs and the instructor will be happy to help you solve
individual problems upon request.

• The actual midterm will have 5-8 T/F, 3-5 short calculations/conceptual questions, and 1-2 longer
problems.

• The following constants and equations will be provided for the midterm. You will only be allowed a
calculator and a writing tool for the exam.

Good luck, and happy studying.

The following constants and equations may or may not be needed:

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• Notation: vectors appear in boldface, so F = F.

• Electron mass me = 9.1 × 10−31 kg. Proton mass mp = 1.7 × 10−27 kg.

• Electron (fundamental) charge qe = 1.6 × 10−19 C.

• Gravity: G = 6.67 × 10−11 m3 /(kg·s2 , assume g = 9.8 m/s2 down.

• Kinematics: x f − xi = vi t + 21 at2 , v f − vi = at, v2f − v2i = 2a(x f − xi ).

qA qB
• Coulomb’s law: FAB = K r̂ ,
r2AB AB
where K = 1/(4πǫ0 ) = 9.0 × 109 N·m2 /C2 and ǫ0 = 8.9 × 10−12 F/m.
R
• Electric field: EqB = FAB /qA ; E(x) = K rr̂2 dq, where dq = λ(x′ ) dℓ, dq = η(x′ ) dA, or dq = ρ(x′ ) dV,
r = x − x′ .
R R
• Gauss’s law: Φ = Qenc /ǫ0 , where Φ = E · dA and Qenc = dq.
Rb ³ ´
• Electric potential: Vb − Va = − a E · dℓ and E = −∇V = − ∂V ∂V ∂V
∂x î + ∂y ĵ + ∂z k̂ .

• Electric dipoles: p = qs, τ = p × E, U = −p · E.

R 2π R π R 2π R π R r
• For a sphere of radius r: SA= 0 0 r2 sin θ dθ dφ = 4πr2 , and V= 0 0 0 (r′ )2 sin θ dr′ dθ dφ = 43 πr3 .

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 • For a (closed) cylinder of radius r and length L:
R 2π R r R 2π R L R L R 2π R r
SA= 2 0 0 r′ dr′ dφ + 0 0 r dφ dz = 2(πr2 ) + 2πrL, and V= 0 0 0 r′ dr′ dφ dz = πr2 L.
L P
• Circuits: V = IR, P = IV, I = JA⊥ , R = σA , J = σE; loop ∆Vi = 0.
nq2 τ
R
• Currents: J = nqvdrift , σ = m , I= J · dA.

• Capacitors: C = Q/V, Uc = 12 CV 2 ;parallel plate only E = (η/ǫ0 )k̂ assuming that k̂ is perpendicular to
the plane.

1 True/False
Instructions: Mark the following statements as True or False. For statements that are False, modify the
statement to make it true. There are always multiple valid ways to correct a false statement, but don’t just
do something trivial (like inserting the word ”not”). You may use abbreviations, but any confusion between
’T’ and ’F’ may be marked as wrong.

1. A negatively charged particle will feel a force pushing it from regions of low potential energy towrd
regions of higher potential energy.

2. When three resistors are placed in series, all three must carry the same current.

3. When you move 3 times further away from a negative point charge, its electric field becomes 9 times
weaker.

4. The gravitational field produced by a positively charged sphere points directly toward the sphere.

5. The total flux of electric field through a closed surface depends only on how much charge the surface
encloses.

6. The electric force created by a negatively charged sphere points toward the sphere, while the force
created by a positively charged sphere points away from the sphere.

7. Suppose you rub a comb across a cat, and the comb becomes positively charged. Then the comb has
also become very slightly less massive.

8. When two resistors are in paralled, they must both carry the same current.

9. The voltage produced by a negatively charged particle always points away from the particle.

10. When two resistors are placed in series, the combined resistance is always greater than either of their
individual resistances.

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Figure 1: A small styrofoam sphere hovers at rest between two charged plates, each of charge density η.
The only forces acting on the sphere are electrical forces and gravity.

11. A negatively charged particle will have more potential energy when it is at a point with a stronger
electric field.

12. If you were to move ten times further away from an infinitely long, uniformly charged wire, the
electric field produced by the wire will grow 100 times stronger.

13. If you remove electrons from an initially neutral object, it will become positively charged.

14. Refer to Figure 1. In the region between the plates, the electric field produced by the plates points
downward.

15. Refer to Figure 1. The sphere is positively charged.

16. Refer to Figure 1. The magnitude of the electric force on the sphere is weaker than the gravitational
force mg.

17. Refer to Figure 1. If the charge density on the positive plate were increased, then the sphere would
begin to accelerate downward.

18. An electrometer provides a practical way to produce a uniform electric field.

19. The potential inside a conductor in electrostatic equilibrium is zero.

20. Current density can be measured in units of A/m3 (ampères per cubic meter).

21. The electromotive force (EMF or E) is measured in newtons (N).

22. The effective capacitance of n identical capacitors, each of capacitance C, hooked up in series is C/n.

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23. The effective resistance of n identical resistors, each of resistance R, hooked up in parallel is R/n.

24. Because electrons cannot travel from one plate of a capacitor to the other, no current can flow in a
circuit with a capacitor.

25. Object A has a charge of +2 C, and object B has a charge of +6 C. If FAB is the force on object B due to
object A, then FAB = −FAB

26. Tomorrow morning you awake in the twilight zone, where the linear dimensions of every object in
your bedroom have double but nothing outside your room has changed. If the resistivities of materials
are the same in the twilight zone, then your bedside light shines more dimly.

27. A dipole is placed near a point charge Q. The net force on this dipole is zero because the dipole is
neutral.

28. If there is an electric field inside of a conductor, then current must be flowing through his conductor.

29. The direction of the current I in a metal is the same as the direction the electrons are moving in the
wire, but it is opposite to the direction of the internal electric field.

30. An electron placed on the negative plate of a parallel plate capacitor will have less potential energy
than if were placed on the positive plate.

31. Consider an isolated solid metal sphere that is charged. The potential at the surface of this sphere is
higher than the potential at its center.

32. When a potential difference of 10 V is placed across a certain solid cylindrical resisto, the current
through it is 2.0 A. If the diameter of this resistor is now tripled, the current will be 18 A.

33. Two charged particles held near each other are released. As they move, the acceleration of each
decreases. Therefore, the particles have opposite signs.

34. A positive charge and a negative charge held near each other are released. As they move, the force on
each particle stays the same.

35. The electric field inside an uncharged metal ball is zero. If the ball is negatively charged, the electric
field inside the ball then becomes negative.

36. An electron is pushed into an electric field where it aquires a 1.0 V electric potential. If two electrons
are pushed the same distance into the same electric field, the electric potential of two electrons is 2.0 V.

37. You can touch a 100,000 V Van de Graff generator with little harm because although the voltage is
high, the relatively small amount of charge means there is a relatively small amount of energy.

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 38. Charge carriers (as in a current) in a metal are electrons rather than protons because electrons are
smaller.

39. If you do 10 J of work to push a coulomb of charge into an electric field, its voltage with respect to its
starting position is 10 V.

40. The direction of an electric field is the direction of the force that the field would exert on a neutral test
charge.

41. The ratio of the potential difference across a metallic conductor to the current in the conductor is
known as conductivity.

42. Connect a pair of lamps in series and you draw current from the connected battery. Connect the same
lamps in parallel and you draw less current.

43. Compared to the amount of electricity in the filament of a lamp, the amount of current in the connect-
ing wire is often less.

44. A 4 Ω resistor is connected in parallel with a 6 Ω resistor. This combination produces an equivalent
resistance of 10 Ω.

45. When we say that an appliance ”uses up energy,” we are really sayig that current disappears. (T/F
only, no correction necessary.)

46. If a gaussian surface contains no charges, then the electric field at its surface must be zero.

47. Two gaussian spheres contain the same charge Q, but one is twice the diameter of the other. The
electric flux through the larger sphere is 4 times greater than that through the smaller sphere.

48. When current is flowing in a metal, the electrons are moving at nearly the speed of light.

49. When the electric field is zero at a point, the potential must also be zero there.

50. If an object is at zero potential, it must be uncharged. (T/F only, no correction necessary.)

2 Short Calculation and Conceptual Questions

Instructions: Clearly indicate your final answer. It is not necessary to show work for this section, but partial
credit will be awarded for (demonstrated) good logic without the right answer.

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 Figure 2: A positive point charge near a permanent electric dipole.

Figure 3: Charges −2 nC and 8 nC are located at x = −2 cm and x = +2cm, respectively.

1. You notice that a pith ball hanging from an insulating thread is attracted to a positively charged plastic
rod. What can you conclude about the charge on the pith ball? Explain your answer.

2. Two neutral metal spheres on insulating stands are placed in contact. A negatively charged rod is then
brought directly over the top of the left sphere, as shown in Figure 8, but does not touch either sphere.
While the rod is held near, the spheres are separated slightly so that they no longer touch. Then the
charged rod is withdrawn. After the rod is withdrawn, what is the charge state (positive, negative, or
neutral) of each sphere?

3. A positive point charge is brought near a permanent electric dipole, as shown in Figure 2. Describe
how the dipole responds.

4. Charges −2 nC and 8 nC are located at x = −2 cm and x = +2cm, respectively (see Figure 3). What is
the electric field at x = −6 cm?

5. Charges −2 nC and 8 nC are located at x = −2 cm and x = +2cm, respectively (see Figure 3).
(a) Write down a general expression for the electric field at a point x on the x-axis.
(b) (Extra credit) At what point or points on the x-axis is E = 0?

6. Refer to Figure 4. What is the magnitude of the electric field at the point indicated as a dot?

7. A parallel-plate capacitor consisting of two 2.0 cm × 2.0 cm square plates is connected to a battery
with emf E. There is a vacuum between the plates. An electron released from rest at the surface of the
negative plate crosses the capacitor and strikes the positive plate with a speed of 1.78 ×106 m/s. What
is the emf of the battery?

Figure 4: Two point charges at opposite corners of a rectangle.

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 Figure 5: Equipotentials along a wire.

8. Figure 5 shows the equipotentials along a wire that has conductivity σ = 1.0 × 105 Ω−1 m−1 . What is the
electric field at the point indicated with a dot?

9. Figure 5 shows the equipotentials along a wire that has conductivity σ = 1.0 × 105 Ω−1 m−1 . How much
current is flowing in the wire? In which direction?

10. A satellite orbits a planet. The gravitational field strength at the radius of the orbit is 12 N/kg. What
will the gravitational field strength at the position of the satellite be if:

(a) The radius of the orbit is doubled?

(b) The planet’s density is doubled?
(c) The satellite’s mass is doubled?
11. The permanent electric dipole moment of the water molecule (H2 O) is 6.2 × 10−30 C m. What is the
maximum possible torque on a water molecule in a 5.0 × 108 N/C electric field?

12. The electric potential in a region of space is V = (130x2 − 160y2 )V, where x and y are measured in
meters. What is the strength and direction of the electric field at (x, y) = (3.00m, 3.00m)?

13. You need to design a 1.0 A fuse that ”blows” if the current exceeds 1.0 A. The fuse material in your
stockroom melts at a current density of 500 A/cm2 . What diameter wire of this material will do the job?

14. The flash unit in a camera uses a 3.0 V battery to charge a capacitor. The capacitor is then discharged
through a flashlamp. The discharge takes 10 µs, and the average power dissipated in the flashlamp
is 10 W. What is the capacitance of the capacitor? (Hint: How much potential energy is stored in the
capacitor before discharge?)

15. There is a current of 0.25 A in the circuit of Figure 6.

(a) What is the direction of the current (clockwise or counterclockwise)?

(b) What is the value of the resistance R?

16. There is a current of 0.25 A in the circuit of Figure 6.

(a) What is the direction of the current (clockwise or counterclockwise)?

(b) What is the power dissipated by the 6Ω resistor?

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 Figure 6: A circuit with current 0.25 A.

Figure 7: Three point charges are distributed with a positive charge +2Q in the center and a pair of negative
charges −Q a distance a to its left and right. A point P is located a distance r from the center +2Q charge.

17. Three point charges distributed as shown in Figure 7. You want to find the electric field E at point P.
(a) Write an exact expression for the x-component of the the electric field Ex at point P (in terms of
Q, r, a, etc.).
(b) (Extra credit) Using the binomial expansion,
n(n − 1) 2 n(n − 1)(n − 2) 3
(1 + x)n = 1 + nx + x + x + ···
2! 3!
write a simpler approximation to the expression you gave in part (a), which is valid for r ≫ a.
(Hint: Use similar logic to the derivation of approximate field from an electric dipole; use the
binomial theorem to expand your equation in powers of the small quantity a/r, and keep the
lowest-order non-vanishing term.)
18. When a single charge q is placed at one corner of a square, the electric field at the center of the square
is F/q. If two other equal charged are placed at the adjacent corners of the square, what is the electric
field at the center of the square due to these three equal charges?

19. The electrical force on a 2.0 C charge is 60 N. What is the value of the electric field at the place where
the charge is located?

20. Three resistors, 1 Ω, 2 Ω, and 3 Ω, are connected in parallel. If they were connected in series, how
many times greater would the equivalent resistance be?
21. A power line with a resistance of 2 Ω has a current of 80 A in it. What is the power dissipated in the line?

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 Figure 8: Two metal spheres on insulating stands.

22. An asteroid of mass 52,000 kg carrying a negative charge of 19.0 µC is 150 m from a second asteriod
of mass 58,000 kg carrying a negative charge of 18.0µC. What is the net force the asteroids exert upon
each other?

23. What is the magnitude of an electric field that balances the weight of a plastic ball of mass 6.4 g that
has been charged to −3.0 nC?

24. A particle charge q1 = 4 nC and mass m1 = 1.0 g is shot directly at a second particle of charge q2 = 200
nC that initially immobile. If the particles are initially very far apart and the initial speed of the moving
particle is v0 = 2 m/s, how close do the particles get to each other? (Hint: think about energy.)

25. Consider and RC circuit with R = 3.6 MΩ and C = 16 µF. Initially (at time t = 0), the capacitor voltage
is 80 V. What is the voltage 40 seconds later (t = 40 s)?

3 Problems
Instructions: Show your reasoning clearly. Good logic counts much more than correct answers.

You do not need to plug numbers into any equation; a correct mathematical expression, in terms of variables
given in the problem, is worth full credit.

If you mess up one part of a questions, you can still get full credit on later parts; they’ll be graded on
logic and consistency. Therefore, if you can’t answer a part of a problem, invent and answer if necessary,
and use it in later parts. (Please tell us you’re doing that, to save graders some confusion.)

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1. In a simple model of the hydrogen atom, the electron moves in a circular orbit of radius 0.053 nm
around a stationary proton.

(a) How many revolutions per second does the electron make?
(b) What is the electric potential of the proton at the position of the electron?
(c) What is the electron’s potential energy?
(d) What is the effective current of the electron?

2. The electron beam inside a television picture tube is 0.500mm in diameter and carries a current of
48.0µA. This electron beam impinges on the inside of the picture tube screen.

(a) How many electrons strike the screen each second?

(b) What is the average current density J̄ in the electron beam? (In other words, assume that the
density is constant throughout the beam.)
(c) The electrons move with a velocity of 3.80 × 107 m/s. What electric field strength is needed to
accelerate electrons from rest to this speed in a distance z = 5.10 mm?
(d) Each electron transfers its kinetic energy to the picture tube screen upon impact. What is the
power delivered to the screen by the electron beam?
(e) Suppose that the current density is not constant throughout the beam. Instead it increases with
distance from the center of the beam: J = Jedge (r/R), where R is the radius of the beam and Jedge is
the current density at the edge (r = R). Determine the value of Jedge .

3. Three stationary point charges are arranged as shown in Figure 9; their charges are +Q, +Q, and −2Q,
where Q = 40 nC. The distances marked are all of identical length a = 6 m.

(a) Find the potential (voltage) at each point M, N. (Assume the potential is zero very far away,
V(∞) = 0.)
(b) Find the magnitude and direction of the electric field at each point M, N.
(c) An electron is released at point M, traveling to the right with initial speed v0 = 5 × 106 m/s. When
the electron reaches point N, will it be going faster or slower than its initial speed v0 ? Justify
your answer by referring to your calculations in part (a) and/or part (b) of this problem. (think
carefully about which result will be more useful here: voltages or electric fields.)
(d) Calculate the elctron’s velocity at point N.

4. Sanity Check Problem: Do not try to solve this problem from first principles (unless you want to try
for extra credit at the end.) Instead, examine the five equations presented as possible answers to the
problem, and use various ”sanity checks” to eliminate those equations which violate common sense
or physical intuition, until at most one equation remains.

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Figure 9: Three stationary point charges with charge +Q, +Q, and −2Q, where Q = 40 nC. The distances
marked are all of identical length a = 6 m.

The problem:
Positive charge is spread evenly around the circumference of a ring of radius R. The total charge on
the ring is Q. A point charge q is placed a distance b from the center of the ring as shown in Fig-
ure 10. You are hoping to find the electrical force exerted on the point charge q. The proposed answers:

kQq kQb
#1 F= #2 F=
R2 R2
kQqb kQb
#3 F= 2 #4 F=
(R + b2 )3/2 Rb
kQ2 b
#5 F= 2
(R + b2 )3/2

(a) What should be the units of F? Which equation(s), if any, does this eliminate?
(b) If the distance b goes to zero, what can you predict about the force F? Which equation(s), if any,
does this eliminate?
(c) If the ring’s radius R goes to zero, what can you predict about the force F? Which equation(s), if
any, does this eliminate?
(d) Can you spot any other obvious flaws in any of the equations? Explain.
(e) Which equation(s), if any, still seem like plausible answers?

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Figure 10: Positive charge is spread evenly around the circumference of a ring of radius R. The total charge
on the ring is Q. A point charge q is placed a distance b from the center of the ring.

5. A Geiger counter detects radiation such as alpha particles by using the fact that the radiation ionizes
the air along its path. A thin wire lies on the axis of a hollow metal cylinder and is insulated from
it. A large potential difference is established between the wire and the outer cylinder, with the wire
at a higher potential; this sets up a strong electric field directed radially outward. When ionizing
radiation enters the device, it ionizes a few air molecules. The free electrons produced are accelerated
by the electric field toward the wire and, on the way there, ionize many more air molecules. Thus a
current pulse is produced that can be detected by appropriate electronic circuitry and converted into
an audible click. Suppose the radius of the central wire is Ri =145 micrometers and the radius of the
hollow cylinder is Ro =1.80 centimeters. Assume the inner wire has linear charge density λ and the
outer jacket has linear charge density −λ.

(a) Draw a diagram of a Geiger counter tube, labeling Ri and Ro .

(b) Calculate the magnitude of the electric field a distance r from the center of the wire for the region
outside the cyclinder (r > Ro ) in terms of the given variables. (Assume that the wire and cylinder
are both very long in comparison to their radii.)
(c) Calculate the magnitude of the electric field a distance r from the center of the wire for the region
inside the cyclinder (r < Ro and r > Ri ) in terms of the given variables. (Assume that the wire
and cylinder are both very long in comparison to their radii.)
(d) (Extra credit) Calculate the magnitude of the electric field a distance r from the center of the wire
for the region inside the wire (r < Ri ) in terms of the given variables. (Assume that the wire and
cylinder are both very long in comparison to their radii.)
(e) Calculate the potential difference between the inner wire (Ri ) and the outer cylinder (Ro ) in terms
of the given variables.
(f) What potential difference between the wire and the cylinder produces an electric field of 2 × 104
V/m at a distance of 1.20 cm from the axis of the wire?

6. A proton orbits a long charged wire, making 1.80 × 106 revolutions per second. The radius of the orbit
is R = 2.00cm. The charged wire has linear charge density λ.

(a) Calculate the electric field due to the wire a distance r from the center of the wire (in terms of
r, λ). (Assume that r is much greater than the radius of the wire, and only calculate the electric
field outside of the wire.)
(b) Calculate the value of λ.

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Figure 11: A very large (essentially infinite) vertical plane carries a uniform charge density σ = −6 × 10−5
C/m2 . A small projectile of mass m = 0.02 kg and charge q = 2 × 10−6 C is fired away from the plane,
traveling to the right with an initial speed v0 = 500 m/s.

Figure 12: A particle of mass m and positive charge q sits on a flat surface at the top of a cliff of height h.
Initially, it is at rest. A uniform electric field E points to the right in the cliff region. There is no electric field
in the area to the right of the cliff. Assume normal gravity.

7. A very large (essentially infinite) vertical plane carries a uniform charge density σ = −6 × 10−5 C/m2 .
A small projectile of mass m = 0.02 kg and charge q = 2 × 10−6 C is fired away from the plane as shown
in Figure 11, traveling to the right with an initial speed v0 = 500 m/s. Ignore gravity here.

(a) In the region to the right of the charged plane, find the magnitude and direction of the electric
field. (Note: we just want the electric field created by the charged plane; you may ignore the field
created by the charged particle.)
(b) Find the magnitude and direction of the projectile’s acceleration.
(c) The positively charged projectile is attracted to the negatively charged plane, so it will eventually
slow to a stop, reverse direction, and ”fall” back to the plane. What is the greatest distance L that
the projectile travels from the plane before reversing direction?
(d) Calculate the time t between the moment the projectile was fired away from the plane, and the
moment it returns to the plane.

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 8. Sanity Check Problem: Do not try to solve this problem from first principles (unless you want to try
for extra credit at the end.) Instead, examine the five equations presented as possible answers to the
problem, and use various ”sanity checks” to eliminate those equations which violate common sense
or physical intuition, until at most one equation remains.

The problem:
A particle of mass m and positive charge q sits on a flat surface at the top of a cliff of height h, as shown
in Figure 12.
Starting from rest, the particle accelerates to the right under the influence of the E-field. It slides
without friction for a distance z, then goes off the cliff. Once the particle has fallen off the cliff, there
is no longer and electric field in the region it is traveling through. (The only force now acting on the
particle is gravity.)
We want an equation for the distance L from the base of the cliff to the point where the projectile first
strikes the ground. The proposed answers:

s
qEhz √
#1 L=2 #2 L= zh
mg
s
qE mg √
#3 L = zh #4 L= zh
mg qE
qE z2
#5 L= ·
mg h
(a) What should be the units of L? Which equation(s), if any, does this eliminate?
(b) If the graviational field g were stronger, should L increase or decrease? Which equation(s), if any,
does this eliminate?
(c) If the height of the cliff h approaches zero, how should L behave? (Remember: L is the horizontal
distance the projectile flies before touching the ground.) Which equation(s), if any, does this
eliminate?
(d) Which equation(s), if any, still seem like plausible answers?
9. You take an electrically neutral pith ball whose mass m = 4 g, and you add one hundred billion (which
is 1011 ) electrons from it.
(a) What is the charge on the ball?
(b) On Figure 13 indicate the direction of the electric field at points A, B, and C.
(c) Now you place the pith ball (the one you discussed in part (a) of this problem) at point A in
Figure 13, and release it with velocity v0 = 2 m/s. The ball travels along, and eventually reaches
point C. During this journey, the only forces acting on the ball were electrical forces.
Calculate the speed of the pith ball when it reaches point C.
10. You have a summer intern position at a research hospital working on proton therapy, a cancer treatment
that utilizes a beam of protons to irradiate tumor sites. Specifically, you are working on choroidal
malignant melanomas (a kind of eye cancer) for which you need protons with an average speed
of v = 1.5 × 105 m/s. However, your proton source (a synchrotron) emits protons at a speed of
v0 = 3.00 × 106 m/s. In order to slow down the protons, you build a device similar to a parallel plate
capacitor. You take two metal plates, space them d = 2.00 cm apart, then drill a small hole through the
center of each plate to let the proton beam pass through your device.
(a) What voltage does your device need?
(b) What is surface charge density of each plate?
(c) You want your device to be small, so you make each plate 20 cm×20 cm. What is the capacitance
of your ’capacitor’?

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 Figure 13: A map of a few equipotential (constant-voltage) contours.

11. A parallel-plate capacitor is formed of two 10 cm × 10 cm plates spaced 1.0 cm apart. The plates are
charged to ±1.0 nC. An electron is shot through a very small hole in the positive plate.

(a) What is the charge density η of a single plate?

(b) What is the voltage across the capacitor?
(c) What is the slowest speed the electron can have if it is to reach the negative plate?

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