WELCOME TO PHYSICS 241!

Lecture 4:
Electric Field Calculations

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EX1: A plastic rod with a uniformly distributed charge –Q is bent into a circular arc of
radius r that subtends an angle of π/3 radians. We place coordinate axes such that
the axis of symmetry of the rod lies along the x-axis and the origin is the center of
curvature for the rod. What is the electric field (magnitude and direction) at the
origin?

y Hint: Imagine that the arc is made up of

many infinitesimally small point charges
dq. Each dq creates a differential
electric field of magnitude dE = k dq/r2.

Sum up all the dEs from all the dqs to get

π/3 x
the magnitude of the overall electric field.

Integration is a way to add many

infinitely small elements.

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EX1: A plastic rod with a uniformly distributed charge –Q is bent into a circular arc of
radius r that subtends an angle of π/3 radians. We place coordinate axes such that
the axis of symmetry of the rod lies along the x-axis and the origin is the center of
curvature for the rod. What is the electric field (magnitude and direction) at the
origin?
We need to integrate over all angles (θ), but
y
dEx is in terms of dq, not dθ.

ds Solution: Relate dq to arc length ds using

linear charge density λ

dθ dq = λ ds
x
CQ1: How is the differential arc length ds
related to the differential angle dθ?

A) ds = r dθ
B) ds = r2 dθ
C) ds = dθ/r
D) ds = dθ/r2

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EX1: A plastic rod with a uniformly distributed charge –Q is bent into a circular arc of
radius r that subtends an angle of π/3 radians. We place coordinate axes such that
the axis of symmetry of the rod lies along the x-axis and the origin is the center of
curvature for the rod. What is the electric field (magnitude and direction) at the
origin?

y Before we can integrate, we need to know the bounds on the integral.


ds E k 2
cos   rd
r
dθ
x
CQ2: What are our bounds??

A) 0 to π/3 C) - π/3 to π/3

B) 0 to π/6 D) - π/6 to π/6

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EX1: A plastic rod with a uniformly distributed charge –Q is bent into a circular arc of
radius r that subtends an angle of π/3 radians. We place coordinate axes such that
the axis of symmetry of the rod lies along the x-axis and the origin is the center of
curvature for the rod. What is the electric field (magnitude and direction) at the
origin?
Find the magnitude of the electric field at the
y origin in terms of λ.

 /6  kl
ds E   k 2 cos   rd =
 /6 r r
dθ
x
CQ3: What is 𝜆 ?
Q Q
A)
( )
r p
6
C)
( 3)
r p

B)
2Q
 3
r
D) ( 6)
Q p
r
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EX1: A plastic rod with a uniformly distributed charge –Q is bent into a circular arc of
radius r that subtends an angle of π/3 radians. We place coordinate axes such that
the axis of symmetry of the rod lies along the x-axis and the origin is the center of
curvature for the rod. What is the electric field (magnitude and direction) at the
origin?
Magnitude of the electric field at the origin:
y
3kQ
E= 2
ds
pr
CQ4: What is the direction of the electric
field at the origin?
dθ
x
A) +iˆ
B) -iˆ
C) + ĵ
D) - ĵ

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EX2: Charge +Q is uniformly distributed around conducting ring of radius a. We
place coordinate axes such that the axis of symmetry of the ring lies along the x-axis
and the origin is the center of the ring. What is the electric field (magnitude and
direction) at the origin?

Hint: Imagine that the ring is made up of

many infinitesimally small point charges
dq. Each dq creates a differential
electric field of magnitude dE = k dq/r2.

Sum up all the dEs from all the dqs to get

the magnitude of the overall electric field.

Integration is a way to add many

infinitely small elements.

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EX2: Charge +Q is uniformly distributed around conducting ring of radius a. We
place coordinate axes such that the axis of symmetry of the ring lies along the x-axis
and the origin is the center of the ring. What is the electric field (magnitude and
direction) at the origin?

CQ5: What is the magnitude of the x-component

of dE due to the dq element shown in red?

dq
A) dEx  k sin  
x a
2 2

dq
B) dEx  k cos  
x a
2 2

dq
C) dEx  k 2 tan  
x a 2

dq
D) dEx  k 2
x  a2

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EX2 : Charge +Q is uniformly distributed around conducting ring of radius a. We
place coordinate axes such that the axis of symmetry of the ring lies along the x-axis
and the origin is the center of the ring. What is the electric field (magnitude and
direction) at the origin?

We need to integrate over all angles (θ), but

dEx is in terms of dq, not dθ.

Solution: Relate dq to arc length ds using

linear charge density λ
dq = λ ds
CQ6: How is the differential arc length ds
related to the differential angle dθ?

A) ds = a dθ
B) ds = a2 dθ
C) ds = dθ/a
D) ds = dθ/a2

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EX2 : Charge +Q is uniformly distributed around conducting ring of radius a. We
place coordinate axes such that the axis of symmetry of the ring lies along the x-axis
and the origin is the center of the ring. What is the electric field (magnitude and
direction) at the origin?

Before we can integrate, we need to know the bounds on the integral.

x
E k ad
x 2
a 
2 3/2

CQ7: What are our bounds??

A) 0 to π C) 0 to π/2

B) 0 to 2π D) -π/2 to π/2

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EX2 : Charge +Q is uniformly distributed around conducting ring of radius a. We
place coordinate axes such that the axis of symmetry of the ring lies along the x-axis
and the origin is the center of the ring. What is the electric field (magnitude and
direction) at the origin?
Find the magnitude of the electric field at the
origin in terms of λ.

2 x x
E k ad  k  2 a 
0
 a
x 2

2 3/2
 a
x 2

2 3/2

CQ8: What is 𝜆?
Q
2 aQ
 2
A) C)
a 

B) 2 Q D) Q
a 2 a
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EX2 : Charge +Q is uniformly distributed around conducting ring of radius a. We
place coordinate axes such that the axis of symmetry of the ring lies along the x-axis
and the origin is the center of the ring. What is the electric field (magnitude and
direction) at the origin?
Magnitude of the electric field on x-axis:
Qx
Ek
x 2
a 
2 3/2

CQ9: What is the direction of the electric

field on the positive x-axis?

A) +iˆ
B) -iˆ
C) + ĵ
D) - ĵ

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 Suggested Reading
• From today: 21.5, 21.7
• For next time: 22.1, 22.2