Physics E1bx Feb. 17, 2015-Feb.

24, 2015

Physics E1bx: Assignment for Feb. 17 - Feb. 24

Homework #2: Conductors, Current, Resistance, and DC Circuits
Due Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 6:00 PM

This assignment must be turned in by 6:00 pm on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Late homework will not be
accepted. Please write your answers to these questions on a separate sheet of paper with your name and
your section TF’s name written at the top. Turn in your homework to the mailbox marked with your
section TF’s name in the row of mailboxes outside of Sci Ctr 108.

You are encouraged to work with your classmates on these assignments, but please write the names of
all your study group members on your homework.

After completing homework 2, you should be able to…

• Determine the potential anywhere on or within a conductor at equilibrium when given
information about the potential at one point on the conductor
• Understand how conductivity and resistivity are related
• Understand how resistance is related to resistivity and conductivity, and geometric properties
• Understand current in the context of charges moving
• Calculate the drift velocity of electrons in a current
• know the relationship between capacitance, charge, and potential difference
• know that resistors in series have the same current
• know that resistors in parallel have the same potential difference
• be able to reduce a given circuit into its equivalent resistor

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Physics E1bx Feb. 17, 2015-Feb. 24, 2015

Here are summaries of important concepts to help you complete this homework:

Conductors at Equilibrium

- at equilibrium, the potential must be the same at every point on a conductor, as well as at every
point within any cavities
- no potential gradient exists within a conductor at equilibrium
- all charges appear on the surface of the conductor

Current and Drift Velocity

- current is defined as charge per unit time:

Δ𝑄
𝑖 =  
Δ𝑡
- drift velocity is the average rate at which charges are moving and is equal to
𝑖
𝑣!"#$% =
𝑛𝐴𝑞
where i is current, n is the number of atoms per unit volume (number density or concentration),
A is the cross-sectional area, and q is the magnitude of the charge.

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Physics E1bx Feb. 17, 2015-Feb. 24, 2015

1. Conceptual Questions. (2 pts)

a) How are resistivity and conductivity related? Are these intrinsic or extrinsic properties? What
does it mean for something to be an intrinsic or extrinsic property?
b) Is resistance an intrinsic or extrinsic property? How is resistance related to resistivity and
conductivity?

2. An Isolated Conductor. (1 pts)

Two students are discussing the problem of an isolated spherical conductor at potential V. Student 1
says, “This isolated spherical conductor is a capacitor.” Student 2 responds saying, “No, a capacitor is
always made up of two conducting plates with charge +Q and –Q separated by a distance d.

Which student is incorrect? Explain your answer.

3. Putting Everything Together (3 pts)

Shown below is a schematic for an apparatus for gel

electrophoresis. Proteins are denatured (unfolded) and
scrubbed by a detergent like SDS, such that they acquire a
charge proportional to their length. A potential difference is
applied across the gel using a pair of electrodes above and
below it, and the resulting potential gradient pushes charged
proteins through the gel such that small and large proteins
move different distances. Thus the protein composition of
the substance can be analyzed.
a) If the electric potential difference between the electrodes above and below the gel is 200
volts (with the positive electrode on the bottom), what is the potential gradient inside the gel?
The proteins start at the top and are pushed downward. Are the proteins positively or
negatively charged? Explain.
b) Proteins moving through this gel experience a viscous drag force of magnitude Fdrag = fv,
where f is the drag coefficient and v is the protein’s speed. What are the dimensions of f?
Draw the free-body diagram for a protein and derive an expression for its terminal speed.
Neglect gravity.
c) It turns out that f for denatured proteins of length L in this gel is proportional to L2. Using
this fact, derive an expression showing why small proteins will move further through the gel
in the same amount of time than large ones. Show the “bands” that will result if you have a
mixture of three different proteins, each with different lengths, and you run that mixture
through the gel.

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Physics E1bx Feb. 17, 2015-Feb. 24, 2015

4. Putting Everything Together (4 pts)

Running along each side of the back of a squid is a tube-like structure

that can be as large as 1.5 mm in diameter in some species. Originally
thought to be blood vessels, in the late 1930s the anatomist J.Z.
Young discovered that the structures are connected to the nervous
system, not to the heart. Although the vast majority of axons in the
squid range in diameter from about 10 µm to 50 µm, as squid
develop, axons from about 30,000 neurons fuse together to form the
giant axons.

In this problem, you will compare the resistance of the giant axon to
that of a smaller axon.

a) First, write an expression for the resistance of the giant

axon and an expression for the resistance of a small axon.
Let RG and RS denote the resistance for the giant and small
axons, respectively, and let DG be the diameter of a giant axon and DS be the diameter of a
small axon. Your expression should be in terms of resistivity ρ, length L, and the appropriate
diameter variable (DG or DS). Assume the axons have the same length.
b) Now, find the ratio of RG to RS. That is, write RG in terms of RS. Your expression should
again be in terms of the variables ρ, L, DG, and DS as needed.
c) Substitute values into the expression you found in part b). How much larger or smaller is RG
compared to RS? Use 50 µm for the diameter of a small axon.
d) How does RG compare to RS? In which type of axon can an action potential travel faster?
Why might this be useful for the squid?