#$&* course Phy 122 8:35 pm July 8 If your solution to stated problem does not match the given solution, you should self-critique per instructions at http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/geninfo/labrynth_created_fall_05/levl1_22/levl2_81/file3_259.htm.Your solution, attempt at solution. If you are unable to attempt a solution, give a phrase-by-phrase interpretation of the problem along with a statement of what you do or do not understand about it. This response should be given, based on the work you did in completing the assignment, before you look at the given solution.
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Given Solution: `aSTUDENT RESPONSE AND INSTRUCTOR COMMENT: electric field is the concentration of the electrical force ** That's a pretty good way to put it. Very specifically electric field measures the magnitude and direction of the electrical force, per unit of charge, that would be experienced by a charge placed at a given point. ** STUDENT COMMENT: Faraday explain that it reached out from the charge, so would that be a concentration? It seems to me that the concentration would be near the center of the charge and the field around it would be more like radiation extending outward weakening with distance. INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE That's a good, and very important, intuitive conception of nature of the electric field around a point charge. However the meaning of the field is the force per unit charge. If you know the magnitude and direction of the field and the charge, you can find the magnitude and direction of the force on that charge. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Self-critique (if necessary): ok ------------------------------------------------ Self-critique Rating: ok ********************************************* Question: `qExplain how we calculate the magnitude and direction of the electric field at a given point of the x-y plane due to a given point charge at the origin. YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Your solution: F / Q = k q1 / r ^2 Q1 = positive (directly away from the origin) Q1= negative (directly toward the origin) displacement vector's direction: arc tan (y / x) (negative + 180 degrees; positive - 180 degrees from calculated angle) confidence rating #$&*: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Given Solution: `a** The magnitude of the force on a test charge Q is F = k q1 * Q / r^2, where q1 is the charge at the origin. The electric field is therefore F / Q = k q1 / r^2. The direction is the direction of the force experienced by a positive test charge. The electric field is therefore directly away from the origin (if q1 is positive) or directly toward the origin (if q1 is negative). The direction of the electric field is in the direction of the displacement vector from the origin to the point if q1 is positive, and opposite to this direction if q1 is negative. To find the direction of this displacement vector we find arctan(y / x), adding 180 deg if x is negative. If q1 is positive then this is the direction of the field. If q1 is negative then the direction of the field is opposite this direction, 180 degrees more or less than the calculated angle. ** STUDENT QUESTION Why is it just Q and not Q2? INSTRUCTOR RESPONSE q1 is a charge that's actually present. Q is a 'test charge' that really isn't there. We calculate the effect q1 has on this point by calculating what the force would be if a charge Q was placed at the point in question. This situation can and will be expanded to a number of actual charges, e.g., q1, q2, ..., qn, at specific points. If we want to find the field at some point, we imagine a 'test charge' Q at that point and figure out the force exerted on it by all the actual charges q1, q2, ..., qn. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Self-critique (if necessary): ok ------------------------------------------------ Self-critique Rating: ok " Self-critique (if necessary): ------------------------------------------------ Self-critique rating: " Self-critique (if necessary): ------------------------------------------------ Self-critique rating: #*&!