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PHYSICS 8B, FALL 2014

Lecture 2, Midterm 1
C. Bordel
Thursday, October 9th, 7pm-9pm

Make sure you show all your work and


justify your answers in order to get full credit.

Problem 1 Charged rod (25pts)

A uniformly charged straight wire of negligible


thickness has length L and carries charge Q > 0.
Determine the direction and magnitude of the
electric field created by the finite-size wire at point
P which is a distance d from the wire along the
perpendicular bisector. Hint: Integral formulas
are provided in the equation sheet for you to evaluate the definite integral.

P
d
Q
L

Problem 2 Spherical capacitor (25pts)


A capacitor is made of two concentric spherical shells
of radii R1 and R2 , carrying the charges +Q and Q
respectively, where R1 < R2 .

R2

(a) Explain which method you are going to use to calculate the electric field produced by a uniform spherical charge distribution.

R1

(b) Determine the electric field inside and outside the


capacitor.
(c) Express the voltage across the capacitor.

+Q
Q

(d) Determine the capacitance C of the spherical


capacitor.

Problem 3 Current, resistivity and power (25pts)


A hollow cylindrical resistor is made of a conducting material
of resistivity , length L, inner radius r1 and outer radius r2 as
shown in Figure 1.

r2

r1

(a) Assuming that the current passes along the direction of


the symmetry axis of the resistor, calculate the resistance
R.
(b) The same voltage V is applied at the two ends of two
solid thick conducting cylinders (see Figure 2) made of
the same material of resistivity such that the currents
flow along the same direction as the symmetry axis. If
one conductor is twice as long and twice the diameter of
the second, what is the ratio of the current through the
first relative to the second?
(c) The wiring of a house must be thick enough to prevent
any fire hazard. What should the diameter D of a solid
cylindrical wire be if it is to carry a maximum current I
and produce power losses of no more than P per meter
of length?

Figure 1

2D0

2L0

D0

L0

(d) Recalculate the resistance R of the hollow cylindrical


resistor pictured in Figure 1, now assuming that the
current is radial .

Figure 2
Problem 4 RC Circuit (Conceptual questions) (25pts)
The capacitor is initially uncharged.
(a) If this is connected to a battery that sources a voltage E,
what is the maximal charge that can be reached on the
capacitors plates? You dont need to do any calculation;
the solution of the differential equation is provided on the
equation sheet.

C
R

(b) How would you change the resistance R to double the time required to reach a given fraction
of the maximum charge? Explain.
(c) Determine, with a minimum of calculation, the current going through the equivalent circuit
in the following two cases:
i) immediately after the battery is connected to the circuit.
ii) a long time after the battery is connected to the circuit.
(d) Redraw the circuit using a replacement for the capacitor in the short-term and long-term
limits. Your effective circuits should capture the current and voltage in the shortterm and
longterm limits.
2

Midterm 1 Equation Sheet


1 Q1 Q2
r
40 r2
Q1 Q2
= k 2 r
r

F~ =

~
F~ = QE
Z
1
dQ
r
40
r2
Z
dQ
=k
r
r2

~ =
E

Q = CV
Ceq = C1 +C2

Q2
2C

dQ
dt

dQ
dA

V = IR

~ dA
~ = Qenc
E
0
A

p~ = Qd~

P = IV
Z
~
~j dA
I=

Req = R1 + R2
(in series)

1
1
1
=
+
Req
R1 R2
(in parallel)

I=0

juntion

xm+1
m+1

xm dx =

1
dx = ln x
x

for m 6= 1

In the following, a is a constant:


Z


p
dx

= ln x + x2 + a2
x2 + a2
Z
 
1
1
1 x
dx
=
tan
x2 + a2
a
a
Z
1
x
3/2 dx = 2 2
a x + a2
x2 + a2
Z
x
1
3/2 dx = 2
x + a2
x2 + a2
Z
sin x dx = cos x
Z
cos x dx = sin x

cos 0 = cos = 1


sin 2 = sin 3
2 =1

cos 2 = sin 0 = sin = 0

~
E
~j = nq~vd =

U = QV
~ d~`
dV = E
Z
dQ
1
V =
40
r
Z
dQ
=k
r

`
R=
A

~
~ = p~ E
~
U = ~
pE

U=
I=

(in series)

 = 0

dQ
d`

dQ
dV
Z
~ dA
~
E =
E

(in parallel)

1
1
1
=
+
Ceq
C1 C2

V =0

loop



Q(t) = CE 1 et/(RC)
(RC Circuit, charging)
Q(t) = CEet/(RC)

(RC Circuit, discharging)

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