Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics (3rd Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321740904
ISBN 13: 978-0-32174-090-8

Chapter 26 - The Electric Field - Exercises and Problems - Page 779: 67

Answer

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Work Step by Step

$$\color{blue}{\bf [a]}$$ This is an integration problem, as we see in the figure below, we divided the sheet into many very thin strips. We chose a very thin strip of width $dx$ on the sheet [which has a width of $L$ and an infinite length $\infty$] and this thin strip has a charge of $dq$ and exerts an electric field of $dE$. We know that the magnitude of the electric field exerted by a line of charge at distance $r$ is given by $$E=\dfrac{1}{4\pi \epsilon_0}\dfrac{2\lambda }{r } $$ where $\lambda=\dfrac{dQ}{L}$ and $\eta=\dfrac{dQ}{A}=\dfrac{dQ}{L dx}$ $\rightarrow \eta=\dfrac{\lambda}{dx}$, and hence, $\lambda=\eta dx$. $$dE=\dfrac{1}{4\pi \epsilon_0}\dfrac{2\eta dx }{(r-x) } \;\hat i \tag 1$$ where $r$ is the distance between the center of the sheet and the point on $x$-direction. Now to find the electric field by the whole of the sheet, we need to integrate from $x=-L/2$ to $x=L/2$, $$\int_0^EdE=\int_{-L/2}^{L/2}\dfrac{1}{4\pi \epsilon_0}\dfrac{2\eta dx }{(r-x) } \;\hat i $$ $$ E=\dfrac{2\eta }{4\pi \epsilon_0}\;\hat i \int_{-L/2}^{L/2}\dfrac{dx }{(r-x) } =\dfrac{2\eta }{4\pi \epsilon_0}\;\hat i \left[ -\ln(r-x)\right]_{-L/2}^{L/2} $$ $$ E =\dfrac{-2\eta }{4\pi \epsilon_0}\;\hat i \left[ \ln\left(r-\frac{L}{2}\right)- \ln\left(r-\frac{-L}{2}\right)\right] $$ $$ E =\dfrac{-2\eta }{4\pi \epsilon_0}\cdot \ln \left[ \dfrac{ r-\frac{L}{2} }{ r+\frac{ L}{2} }\right] \;\hat i$$ where $r$ is already represents the $x$-direction. So we can replace $r$ by $x$. $$ E =\dfrac{-2\eta }{4\pi \epsilon_0}\cdot \ln \left[ \dfrac{ 2x-L }{ 2x+L }\right] \;\hat i$$ $$ \boxed{E =\dfrac{ 2\eta }{4\pi \epsilon_0}\cdot \ln \left[ \dfrac{ 2x+L }{ 2x-L }\right] \;\hat i}$$ $$\color{blue}{\bf [b]}$$ When $x\gt\gt L$, we can use the hint given by the author which is $\ln (1+u)=u$ if $u\lt\lt 1$. Thus when $x\gt\gt L$, $\ln \left[ \dfrac{ 1+\frac{L}{2x} }{ 1-\frac{L}{2x} }\right] $ where $L/2x\lt \lt 1$. Hence, $$\ln \left[ \dfrac{ 1+\frac{L}{2x} }{ 1-\frac{L}{2x} }\right] =\ln\left(1+\frac{L}{2x}\right)-\ln\left(1-\frac{L}{2x}\right)=\frac{L}{2x}-\frac{-L}{2x}\\ =\frac{L}{x}$$ Plug into the boxed formula above, $$ E =\dfrac{ 2\eta L }{(4\pi \epsilon_0)x} \;\hat i $$ where $\eta=\lambda/L$ $$ \boxed{E =\dfrac{ 2\lambda }{(4\pi \epsilon_0)x} \;\hat i }$$ which is a reasonable result, since at a very long distance from the sheet, it appears as an infinite line of charge. It is the electric field of an infinite line of charge with linear charge density of $\lambda$. $$\color{blue}{\bf [c]}$$ See the second figure below.
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