Professor: Assignment 2

Blanca Cecilia Cañas O (blanca.canas@unipamplona.edu.co) Electrodinámica Clásica I (2022-1)

JUSTIFY THE ANSWERS TO EACH OF THE FOLLOWING EXERCISES

ASSIGNMENT 2

1. Given the proton mass as 1.67×10−27 kg and the gravitational constant G as 6.67×10−11 m3 kg−1 s−2

ˆ Compare the gravitational attraction of two protons with their electrostatic repulsion. Is this
physically reasonable? Justify!

ˆ The distance between the two protons in the helium nucleus could be at one instant as much
as 1013 cm. How large is the force of electrical repulsion between two protons at that distance?
Express it in newtons. Justify why the nucleus is stable?

2. Using step and/or Dirac delta functions in the appropriate coordinates, express the following
→
−
charge distributions as three-dimensional charge densities ρ( r0 ).

ˆ In spherical coordinates, a charge Q is uniformly distributed inside a sphere of radius R.

ˆ In cylindrical coordinates, a charge Q is uniformly distributed over a cylindrical surface of

length L, from − 21 L to 12 L and radius b. The cylinder is aligned along the z−axis.

3. A charge −Q is distributed uniformly over the surface of a spherical shell of radius R0 having a
negligible thickness and centered at the origin O.

a. Using Dirac delta functions in the appropriate coordinates, calculate the charge distribution
→
−
as a constant volume density ρ( r0 ).
→
−
b. Considering ρ( r0 ), find the electric field at an arbitrary point P, such that R > R0 .

4. Find the electric field along the axis of a charged ring of radius b lying in the x-y plane when
the charge density on the ring varies sinusoidally around the ring as

ρ(r0 , φ0 , z 0 ) = λ0 (1 + sin φ0 )δ(r0 − b)δ(z 0 )

5. A charge q is distributed uniformly along the z-axis from − 21 L to 12 L.

a. Using step and Dirac delta functions in the appropriate coordinates, calculate the charge
→
−
distribution as a constant volume density ρ( r0 ).
→
−
b. Considering ρ( r0 ), find the force exerted on a point charge −Q located at →
−
r in the x − y
plane.

Universidad de Pamplona
Facultad de Ciencias Básicas, Departamento de Fı́sica y Geologı́a