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Ecu 103 Lecture 05
Ecu 103 Lecture 05
Electric potential.
You must be able to calculate the electric potential for a point charge, and use the electric
potential in work-energy calculations.
• electric potential V
ri
¶U
equivalently: FE = -
¶r
You must use this convention if you want to use the equation for potential energy of point
charges! If you use the above equation, you are “automatically” using this convention.
Potential energy of point charge in electric field
f
U f - U i = -q ò E × d
i
Example: calculate the electric potential energy of two protons
separated by a typical proton-proton intranuclear distance of
2x10-15 m. +1.15x10 -13 J
+e +e
D=2x10-15 m
U=k
q1q 2
= k
( +e )( +e )
= 9 ´109
( +1.6 ´ 10 -19
)( +1.6 ´ 10 -19
)
r12 D ( 2 ´ 10 -15
)
U = +1.15 ´10-13 J
+e -e
D=5.29x10-11 m
U=k
q1q 2
= k
( +e )( -e )
= 9 ´109
( +1.6 ´10 )( -1.6 ´10 )
-19 -19
U = -4.36 ´10-18 J
Electric potential.
You must be able to calculate the electric potential for a point charge, and use the electric
potential in work-energy calculations.
DU = U f - U i = - [ Wconservative ]i®f
change in potential energy is defined as the negative of the
work done by the conservative force which is associated with
the potential energy (today, the electric force).
*for example, if you “slowly” lift a book, or “slowly” push two negatively charged balloons together
Example: two isolated protons are constrained to be a distance
D = 2x10-10 meters apart (a typical atom-atom distance in a
solid). If the protons are released from rest, what maximum
speed do they achieve, and how far apart are they when they
reach this maximum speed? 4
2.63x10 m/s
How far apart are the protons when they reach their maximum
speed?
Example: two isolated protons are constrained to be a distance
D = 2x10-10 meters apart (a typical atom-atom distance in a
solid). If the protons are released from rest, what maximum
speed do they achieve, and how far apart are they when they
reach this maximum speed? 2.63x10 m/s 4
v=0 +e +e v=0
Initial
ri=2x10-10 m
+e Final +e
v v
rf=¥
+e Final +e
v v
rf=¥
E f - E i = [ Wother ]i®f
0 0 0
K f + U f - ( K i + U i ) = [ Wother ]i®f
K f = Ui
v=0 +e +e v=0
Initial
ri=2x10-10 m
+e Final +e
v v
rf=¥
K f = Ui
How many objects are moving in the final state? Two.
+e Final +e
v v
rf=¥
K f = Ui
æ1 2ö
2ç m p v ÷ = k
(+ e )(+ e )
è2 ø ri
v =
ke 2
=
(9 ´10 )(1.6 ´10 )
9 -19 2
= 2.63 ´10
m 4
Electric potential.
You must be able to calculate the electric potential for a point charge, and use the electric
potential in work-energy calculations.
U (r) 1 1 q1q 2 1 q2
V(r) = = = q1 is the test charge, q2
1 q
V (r) = . Only valid for a
rb
U f - U i - òra FE × d rb F rb
Vf - Vi = = = -ò E
× d = -ò E × d .
q q ra q ra
f
Vf - Vi = - ò E × d
i
Two conceptual examples.
Important note:
V this is the symbol for electrical potential
V this is the symbol for the unit (volts) of electrical
potential
v this is the symbol for magnitude of velocity, or speed
Don’t get your v’s and V’s mixed up! Hint: write your speed v’s
vv
as script v’s, like this (or however you want to clearly indicate a
lowercase v): v n
What is the potential due to the proton in the hydrogen atom at
the electron’s position (5.29x10-11 m away from the proton)? 27.2V
+e -e
P VP?
+ -
Vp =
kq
=
k (+ e )
=
( )(
9 ´109 + 1.6 ´10 -9 )
= 27.2 V
r D (
5.29 ´10 -11
)
Today’s agenda:
Electric potential energy.
You must be able to use electric potential energy in work-energy calculations.
Electric potential.
You must be able to calculate the electric potential for a point charge, and use the electric
potential in work-energy calculations.
r
q1 q1 q2
q1q 2
U= 0 U= k
r
before after
To find the electric potential energy for a system of three
charges, we bring a third charge in from an infinite distance
away:
r12 r12
q1 q2
q1 q2
r13 r23
q3
before after
q1q 2 æ q1q 2 q1q 3 q 2 q 3 ö
U= k U = kç + + ÷
r12 è r12 r13 r23 ø
We have to add the potential energies of
each pair of charged particles.
Electric Potential of a Charge Distribution (details next lecture)
1 qi
Collection of charges: VP =
4pe0
åi r .
i
Charge distribution:
dq
1 dq r
V= ò
4pe0 r
. P
Potential at point P.
We’ll work with this next lecture.
Example: a 1 µC point charge is located at the origin and a -4
µC point charge 4 meters along the +x axis. Calculate the
electric potential at a point P, 3 meters along the +y axis.
y
qi æ q1 q 2 ö
VP = k å = k ç + ÷
i ri è r1 r2 ø
P
9 æ 1×10 -6
-4×10 -6
ö
3 m r1 r2 = 9×10 ç + ÷
è 3 5 ø
x
= - 4.2×103 V
q1 4m q2
Example: how much work is required to bring a +3 µC point
charge from infinity to point P? (And what assumption must we make?)
y
0
Wexternal = DE = DK + DU
q3
P Wexternal = DU = q 3DV
3m 0
Wexternal = q 3 ( VP - V¥ )
q3
P æ q1 q 2 q1 q 3 q 2 q 3 ö
U = kç + + ÷
3m r r23 r
è 12 r13 r23 ø
13
r12
q2 x
q1 4m
U = 9 ´109 ç
(
æ 1×10-6 -4×10-6 )(
+
1×10 -6
) (
3×10 -6
)(
+
-4×10 ) (
-6
3×10 -6
)( ) ö÷
ç 4 3 5 ÷
è ø
U = - 2.16 ´10-2 J
Today’s agenda:
Electric potential energy.
You must be able to use electric potential energy in work-energy calculations.
Electric potential.
You must be able to calculate the electric potential for a point charge, and use the electric
potential in work-energy calculations.
DU= qDV
æ 1 eV ö
U = -4.36 ´10 J = ( -4.36 ´10 J ) ç
-18 -18
-19 ÷
» -27.2 eV
è 1.6 ´10 J ø
“Hold it! I learned in Chemistry (or high school physics) that the
ground-state energy of the hydrogen atom is -13.6 eV. Did you
make a physics mistake?”