Electrostatics

1. Two protons each of charge qp = e, exert an electric force of magnitude Fp-p on each other
when they are rp distance apart. A pair of alpha particles, each of charge qa = 2e, exert an
electric force Fa-a = ¼ Fp-p on each other. What is the distance between protons, rp?
2. Sphere A has twice the radius of a second, very distant sphere B. Let the electric potential at
infinity be taken as zero. If the electric potential at the surface of sphere A is the same as at
the surface of sphere B/L, what can be said of the charge Qa on sphere A compare with
charge Qb on B?
3. How much work is required to bring a proton with charge 1.6 x 10-19 C and an alpha particle
with charge 3.2 x 10-19 C from rest at a great distance (effectively infinity) to rest positions a
distance 1.00 x 1015 m away from each other?
4. A fixed constant electric field E accelerates a proton from rest through a displacement. A
fully ionized lithium atom with three times the charge of the proton accelerates through the
same constant electric field and displacement. Which of the following is true of the kinetic
energies of the particles?
a) The kinetic energies of the two particles are the same
b) The kinetic energy of the proton is larger
c) The kinetic energies of the lithium ion is larger
d) Cannot tell
5. What is the potential difference between point A and point B if 10.0 J of work is required to
move a charge of 4.00 C from one point to the other?
6. How much work would have to be done by a nonconservative force in moving an electron
through positive potential difference of 2.0 x 106 V? Assume the electron is at rest both
initially and at its final position.
7. What is the magnitude charge on a body that has an excess of 20 electrons?
8. Two point charges A and B, with charges 2.00 x 10-4 C and -4.00 x 10-4 C, respectively, are
separated by a distance of 6.00 m. what us the magnitude of the electrostatic force exerted
on a charge A?
9. Two point charges, A and B, are separated by 10.0 m. If the distance between them is
reduced to 5.00 m, the force exerted on each
a) Decreases to ½ its original value
 b) Increases to twice its original value
c) Decreases to one-quarter of its original value
d) Increases to four times its original value
10. Sphere A with a net charge of 3.0 x 10-3 C is touched to a second sphere B, which has a net
charge of -9.0 x 10-3 C. The two spheres, which are exactly the same size and composition,
are then separated. The net charge on sphere A is now
11. If the charge on a particle in an electric field is reduced to half its original value, the force
exerted on the particle by the field is
a) Doubled
b) Halved
c) Quadrupled
d) Unchanged
12. The electrostatic force between two point charges is F. if the charge of one point charge is
doubled and that of the other is quadrupled, the force becomes which of the following?
13. The magnitude of the electric force between two protons is 2.3 x 10-26 N. how far apart are
they?
14. A very small ball has a mass of 5.0 x 10-3 kg and a charge of 4.0 microC. What magnitude
electric field directed upward will balance the weight of the ball?
15. Charges of 3.0 nC, -2.0 nC, -7.0 nC and 1.0 nC are contained inside a rectangular box with
length 1.0 m, width 2.0 m and height 2.5 m. outside the box are charges of 1.0 nC and 4.0
nC. What us the electric flux through the surface of the box?
16. A charge of -4.00 nC is located at (0, 1.00) m. What is the x component of the electric field
at (4.00, -2.00) m?
17. A proton is released at the origin in a constant electric field of 850 N/C acting in the positive
x direction, Find the change in the electric potential energy associated with the proton after
it travels to x = 2.5 m.
18. A helium nucleus (charge = 2e, mass = 6.63 x 10-27 kg) traveling at a speed 6.20 x 105 m/s
enters an electric field, traveling from point A, at a potential of 1.50 x 10 3 V, to point B, at
4.00 x 10-3 V. What is its speed at point B?
19. An electronic technician wishes to construct a parallel-plate capacitor using rutile (k = 1.00 x
102) as the dielectric. If the cross sectional area of the places is 1.0 cm 2, what is the
capacitance if the rutile thickness is 1.0 mm?
20. If three unequal capacitors, initially uncharged, are connected in series across a battery,
which of the following statements is true?
a) The equivalent capacitance is greater than any of the individual capacitances
b) The largest voltage appears across the capacitor with the smallest capacitance
c) The largest voltage appears across the capacitor with the largest capacitance
d) The capacitor with the largest capacitance has the greatest voltage
21. A parallel plate capacitor filled with air carries a charge Q. The battery is disconnected, and a
slab of material with dielectric constant k = 2 is inserted between the plates. Which of the
following statements is correct?
a) The voltage across the capacitor decreases by a factor of 2
b) The voltage across the capacitor is doubled
c) The charge on the plates is doubled
d) The charge on the plates decreases by a factor of 2
22. A battery is attached to several different capacitors connected in parallel. Which of the
following statements is true?
a) All of the capacitors have the same charge and the equivalent is greater than the
capacitance of any of the capacitors in the group
b) The capacitor with the largest capacitance carries the smallest charge
c) The potential difference across each capacitor is the same and the equivalent
capacitance is greater than any of the capacitors in the group
d) The capacitor with the smallest capacitance carries the largest charge

Circuits

1. Three resistors are connected together. How should they be combined so as to minimize the
resistance of the combination?
a) They should be connected in series
b) The two larger resistors should be put in parallel, and the remaining resistor put in
series with the first two
c) All three resistors should be placed in parallel
d) Any of the two resisters should be connected in parallel and connected in series with
the third
2. Three resistors of resistance 1.0 ohm, 2.0 ohm and 3.0 ohm respectively are in series. If a
potential difference of 12 V is applied across the combination, what is the resulting current in
the circuit?
3. If the length of a conducting wire with resistance R is doubled, what will the resistance pf the
loner wire be?
4. If a 2.0 ohm resistor and 6.0 ohm resistor are connected in parallel, what is their combined
resistance?
5. If all the components of an electric circuit are connected in series, which of the following
physical quantities must be the same at all points in the circuit?
6. The current in a conductor is 3.0 A when it is connected across a 6.0 V battery. How much
power is delivered to the conductor?
7. A 12 ohm resistor is connected across a 6.0 V DC source. How much energy is delivered to
the resistor in half an hour?
8. A battery with an emf of 6.20 V carries a current of 20.0 A. if the internal resistance of the
battery is 0.01 ohm, what is the terminal voltage?
9. Devices A and B are connected in parallel to a battery. If the resistance R a of device A is four
times as great as the resistance Rb of device B, what is true of Ia and Ib, the currents in devices
A and B?
10. What is the current in a wire if 5.00 C of charge passes through the wire in 0.5000 s?
11. A wire carries a current of 1.6 A. How many electrons per second pass a given point in the
wire? Choose the best estimate.
12. Wire B has the same resistivity, twice the length, and twice the radius of wire A. If wire A has
a resistance R, what is the resistance of wire B?
13. Which of the following combinations of units has units of energy?
a) C/s b) kWh c) kW d) W/s
14. A color television set draws about 2.5 A when connected to a 120 V source. What is the cost
(with electrical energy at 8 cents/kWh) of running the set for 8.0 hours?
15. Three resistors A, B and C are connected in parallel and attached to a battery, with the
resistance of A being the smallest and the resistance of C the greatest. Which resistor carries
the highest current?
16. The power delivered to a resistor is 4.0 W when a certain voltage is applied across it. How
much power is delivered to the resistor when the resistor is doubled?
17. The terminals of a battery are connected across two different resistors in series. Which of the
following statements are correct?
a) The smaller resistor carries more current
b) The larger resistor carries less current
c) The current in each resistor is the same
d) The voltage difference across each resistor is the same
18. A 1.00 ohm and 2.00 ohm resistor are in parallel. What is the equivalent single resistance?
19. When connected to a 120 V source, an electric heater is rated at 1200 W and a toaster at 6.0
x 102 W. If both appliances are operating in parallel on a 120 V circuit, what total current is
delivered by an external source?
20. An ammeter is connected in series with a unknown resistance, and a voltmeter is connected
across the terminals of the resistance. If the ammeter reads 1.2 A and the voltmeter reads 18
V, compute the value of the resistance.
21. An electric utility company runs two 100 m copper wires from the street mains up to a
customer’s premises. If the wire resistance is 0.100 ohm per 1000m, calculate the line voltage
drop for an estimated load current of 120 A.
22. Compute the internal resistance of an electric generator which has an emf of 120 V, and
terminal voltage of 110 V when supplying 20 A.
23. An electric broiler develops 2 kW when the current through it is 10 A. Determine the
resistance of the broiler.
24. A 10 ohm electric heater operates on a 110 V line. Compute the rate at which heat is
developed.
25. An electric crane uses 8 A at 150 V to raise 450 kg at the rate of 7 m/min. Determine the
efficiency of the system.
26. What should be the resistance of a heating coil which will be used to raise the temperature
of 500 g of water from 28 oC to the boiling point in 2 minutes, assuming the 25% of the
heat is lost? The heater operates on a 110 V line.
27. Compute the energy consumed per hr in electrically heating a room which requires 1.5 kg
per hr of anthracite coal having a heat of combustion of 3.5 x 107 J/kg.
28. A tank containing 200 liter of water was used as a constant temperature bath. How long
would it take to heat the bath from 20 oC to 25 oC with a 250 W immersion heater? Neglect
the heat capacity of the tank frame and any heat losses to the air.
29. Compute the resistance of a hardened copper rod 2 m long and 8 mm in diameter if the
resistivity of the material is 1.756 x 10-8 ohmmeter.
30. The resistance of a coil of insulated copper wire is 3.35 ohm at 0 oC. Determine its resistance
at 50 oC. Temperature coefficient resistance of the copper wire is 0.00426/K.
31. The resistance of a platinum thermometer is 6.00 ohm at 30 oC. Determine its resistance at
100 oC. Temperature coefficient of resistance of platinum is 0.00392/ oK.
32. American wire gage no. 24 has a diameter of 0.51 mm. Compute the resistance of 1m of 24
gage copper wire if the resistivity of copper is 1.75 x 10-8 ohmmeter.
33. How many 160 ohm resistors (in parallel) are required to carry 5 A on a 100 V line?
34. What resistance must be placed in parallel with 20 ohm to reduce the combined resistance
to 15 ohm?
35. What shunt resistance should be connected in parallel with an ammeter having a resistance
of 0.04 ohm so that 25% of the total current would pass through the ammeter?