Tarea 1

Electromagnetismo I
Anahı́ Alvarado Sánchez, Claudia Zendejas Morales

1.6 Zero potential energy for equilibrium

(a) Two charges q are each located a distance d from a charge Q, as shown
in Fig. 1.32(a). What should the charge Q be so that the system is in
equilibrium; that is, so that the force on each charge is zero? (The equi-
librium is an unstable one, which can be seen by looking at longitudinal
displacements of the (negative) charge Q.

(b) Same question, but now with the setup in Fig. 1.32(b). The three charges
q are located at the vertices of an equilateral triangle.

(c) Show that the total potential energy in each of the above systems is zero.

(d) In view of the previous result, we might make the following conjecture: “The total potential energy of
any system of charges in equilibrium is zero.” Prove that this conjecture is indeed true. Hint: The goal
is to show that zero work is required to move the charges out to infinity. Since the electrostatic force
is conservative, you need only show that the work is zero for one particular set of paths of the charges.
And there is indeed a particular set of paths that makes the result clear.

1.39 Rhombus of charges

Four positively charged bodies, two with charge Q and two with charge q, are
connected by four unstretchable strings of equal length. In the absence of exter-
nal forces they assume the equilibrium configuration shown in Fig. 1.41. Show
that tan3 θ = q 2 /Q2 . This can be done in two ways. You could show that
this relation must hold if the total force on each body, the vector sum of string
tension and electrical repulsion, is zero. Or you could write out the expression
for the energy U of the assembly (like Eq.(1.13) but for four charges instead of
three) and minimize it.

1.41 Work for an octahedron

Three protons and three electrons are to be placed at the vertices of a regular octahedron of edge length a.
We want to find the energy of the system, that is, the work required to assemble it starting with the particles
very far apart. There are two essentially different arrangements. What is the energy of each?

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1.46 Charges on a circular track
Suppose three positively charged particles are constrained to move on a fixed circular track. If the charges
were all equal, an equilibrium arrangement would obviously be a symmetrical one with the particles spaced
120◦ apart around the circle. Suppose that two of the charges are equal and the equilibrium arrangement
is such that these two charges are 90◦ apart rather than 120◦ . What is the relative magnitude of the third
charge?

1.79 Forces on three sheets

Consider three charged sheets, A, B, and C. The sheets are parallel with A above B above C. On each sheet
there is surface charge of uniform density: −4×10−5 [C/m2 ] on A, 7×10−5 [C/m2 ] on B, and −3×10−5 [C/m2 ]
on C. (The density given includes charge on both sides of the sheet.) What is the magnitude of the electrical
force per unit area on each sheet? Check to see that the total force per unit area on the three sheets is zero.