ASSIGNMENT OF ELECTROMAGNET

(1)
1. Explain what is meant by the term a neutral atom. Explain what a negatively charged atom
means.
2. A charged comb often attracts small bits of dry paper that then y away when they touch the comb.
Explain.
3. Explain from an atomic viewpoint why charge is usually transferred by electrons.
4. A light, uncharged metallic sphere suspended from a thread is attracted to a charged rubber rod.
After it touches the rod, the sphere is repelled by the rod. Explain.
5. Explain the similarities and differences between Newtons law of universal gravitation and Coulombs
law.
6. A balloon is negatively charged by rubbing and then clings to a wall. Does this mean that the wall
is positively charged? Why does the balloon eventually fall?
7. Is it possible for an electric eld to exist in empty space? Explain. Consider point A in Figure
below. Does charge exist at this point? Does a force exist at this point? Does a eld exist at this point?

8. When is it valid to approximate a charge distribution by a point charge?

9. Explain why electric eld lines never cross. Suggestion: Begin by explaining why the electric
eld at a particularpoint must have only one direction.
10. A free electron and a free proton are released in identical electric elds. Compare the electric forces on
the two particles. Compare their accelerations.
11. Explain what happens to the magnitude of the electric eld created by a point charge as r
approaches zero.
12. Explain the differences between linear, surface, and volume charge densities, and give examples of
when each would be used.
13. If the electron in Figure below is projected into the electric eld with an arbitrary velocity vi (at an
arbitrary angle to E), will its trajectory still be parabolic? Explain. Would life be different if the
electron were positively charged and the proton were negatively charged? Does the choice of signs
have any bearing on physical and chemical interactions? Explain.

14. Would life be different if the electron were positively charged and the proton were negatively
charged? Does the choice of signs have any bearing on physical and chemical interactions? Explain.
15. Why should a ground wire be connected to the metal support rod for a television antenna?
16. Suppose someone proposes the idea that people are bound to the Earth by electric forces rather
than by gravity. How could you prove this idea is wrong?
17. Consider two electric dipoles in empty space. Each dipole has zero net charge. Does an electric
force exist between the dipolesthat is, can two objects with zero net charge exert electric forces on
each other? If so, is the force one of attraction or of repulsion?

ASSIGNMENT OF ELECTROMAGNET
(2)
1. The Sun is lower in the sky during the winter months than it is in the summer. How does this
change the ux of sunlight hitting a given area on the surface of the Earth? How does this affect the
weather?
2. If the electric eld in a region of space is zero, can you conclude that no electric charges are in that
region? Explain.
3. If more electric eld lines leave a gaussian surface than enter it, what can you conclude about
the net charge enclosed by that surface?
4. A uniform electric eld exists in a region of space in which there are no charges. What can you
conclude about the net electric ux through a gaussian surface placed in this region of space?If the
total charge inside a closed surface is known but the distribution of the charge is unspecied, can
you use Gausss law to nd the electric eld? Explain.
5. If the total charge inside a closed surface is known but the distribution of the charge is unspecied,
can you use Gausss law to nd the electric eld? Explain
6. Explain why the electric ux through a closed surface with a given enclosed charge is independent of
the size or shape of the surface.
7. Consider the electric eld due to a nonconducting innite plane having a uniform charge density.
Explain why the electric eld does not depend on the distance from the plane, in terms of the
spacing of the electric eld lines.
8. Use Gausss law to explain why electric eld lines must begin or end on electric charges.
(Suggestion: Change the size of the gaussian surface.)
9. On the basis of the repulsive nature of the force between like charges and the freedom of motion of
charge within a conductor, explain why excess charge on an isolated conductor must reside on its
surface.
10. A person is placed in a large hollow metallic sphere that is insulated from ground. If a large
charge is placed on the sphere, will the person be harmed upon touching the inside of the sphere?
Explain what will happen if the person also has an initial charge whose sign is opposite that of
the charge on the sphere.
11. Two solid spheres, both of radius R, carry identical total charges, Q. One sphere is a good
conductor while the other is an insulator. If the charge on the insulating sphere is uniformly

distributed throughout its interior volume, how do the electric elds outside these two spheres
compare? Are the elds identical inside the two spheres?
12. A common demonstration involves charging a rubber balloon, which is an insulator, by rubbing
it on your hair, and touching the balloon to a ceiling or wall, which is also an insulator. The electrical
attraction between the charged balloon and the neutral wall results in the balloon sticking to the wall.
Imagine now that we have two innitely large at sheets of insulating material. One is charged
and the other is neutral. If these are brought into contact, will an attractive force exist between
them, as there was for the balloon and the wall?
13. You may have heard that one of the safer places to be during a lightning storm is inside a car. Why
would this be the case?