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The voltages in both of these examples could be measured with a meter that compares the measured potential with ground potential. Ground potential is often taken to be zero (instead of taking the potential at infinity to be zero). It is the potential difference between two points that is of importance, and very often there is a tacit assumption that some reference point, such as Earth or a very distant point, is at zero potential. As noted in Electric Potential Energy: Potential Difference , this is analogous to taking sea level as h = 0 size 12{h=0} {} when considering gravitational potential energy, PE g = mgh size 12{"PE" rSub { size 8{g} } = ital "mgh"} {} .

Section summary

  • Electric potential of a point charge is V = kQ / r size 12{V= ital "kQ"/r} {} .
  • Electric potential is a scalar, and electric field is a vector. Addition of voltages as numbers gives the voltage due to a combination of point charges, whereas addition of individual fields as vectors gives the total electric field.

Conceptual questions

In what region of space is the potential due to a uniformly charged sphere the same as that of a point charge? In what region does it differ from that of a point charge?

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Can the potential of a non-uniformly charged sphere be the same as that of a point charge? Explain.

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Problems&Exercises

A 0.500 cm diameter plastic sphere, used in a static electricity demonstration, has a uniformly distributed 40.0 pC charge on its surface. What is the potential near its surface?

144 V

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What is the potential 0 . 530 × 10 –10 m size 12{0 "." "530" times "10" rSup { size 8{ - 10} } `m} {} from a proton (the average distance between the proton and electron in a hydrogen atom)?

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(a) A sphere has a surface uniformly charged with 1.00 C. At what distance from its center is the potential 5.00 MV? (b) What does your answer imply about the practical aspect of isolating such a large charge?

(a) 1.80 km

(b) A charge of 1 C is a very large amount of charge; a sphere of radius 1.80 km is not practical.

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How far from a 1 . 00 µC size 12{1 "." "00" mC} {} point charge will the potential be 100 V? At what distance will it be 2.00 × 10 2 V ? size 12{2 "." "00" times "10" rSup { size 8{ 2} } `V} {}

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What are the sign and magnitude of a point charge that produces a potential of –2.00 V at a distance of 1.00 mm?

–2 . 22 × 10 13 C size 12{2 "." "22" times "10" rSup { size 8{ - 13} } `C} {}

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If the potential due to a point charge is 5 . 00 × 10 2 V size 12{5 "." "00" times "10" rSup { size 8{ 2} } `V} {} at a distance of 15.0 m, what are the sign and magnitude of the charge?

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In nuclear fission, a nucleus splits roughly in half. (a) What is the potential 2 . 00 × 10 14 m size 12{2 "." "00" times "10" rSup { size 8{ - 14} } `m} {} from a fragment that has 46 protons in it? (b) What is the potential energy in MeV of a similarly charged fragment at this distance?

(a) 3 . 31 × 10 6 V size 12{3 "." "31" times "10" rSup { size 8{6} } `V} {}

(b) 152 MeV

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A research Van de Graaff generator has a 2.00-m-diameter metal sphere with a charge of 5.00 mC on it. (a) What is the potential near its surface? (b) At what distance from its center is the potential 1.00 MV? (c) An oxygen atom with three missing electrons is released near the Van de Graaff generator. What is its energy in MeV at this distance?

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An electrostatic paint sprayer has a 0.200-m-diameter metal sphere at a potential of 25.0 kV that repels paint droplets onto a grounded object. (a) What charge is on the sphere? (b) What charge must a 0.100-mg drop of paint have to arrive at the object with a speed of 10.0 m/s?

(a) 2 . 78 × 10 - 7 C size 12{2 "." "78" times "10" rSup { size 8{-7} } `C} {}

(b) 2 . 00 × 10 - 10 C size 12{2 "." "00" times "10" rSup { size 8{-10} } `C} {}

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In one of the classic nuclear physics experiments at the beginning of the 20th century, an alpha particle was accelerated toward a gold nucleus, and its path was substantially deflected by the Coulomb interaction. If the energy of the doubly charged alpha nucleus was 5.00 MeV, how close to the gold nucleus (79 protons) could it come before being deflected?

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(a) What is the potential between two points situated 10 cm and 20 cm from a 3 . 0 µC size 12{3 "." 0 mC} {} point charge? (b) To what location should the point at 20 cm be moved to increase this potential difference by a factor of two?

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Unreasonable Results

(a) What is the final speed of an electron accelerated from rest through a voltage of 25.0 MV by a negatively charged Van de Graaff terminal?

(b) What is unreasonable about this result?

(c) Which assumptions are responsible?

(a) 2.96 × 10 9 m/s

(b) This velocity is far too great. It is faster than the speed of light.

(c) The assumption that the speed of the electron is far less than that of light and that the problem does not require a relativistic treatment produces an answer greater than the speed of light.

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Questions & Answers

A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?
Aislinn Reply
cm
tijani
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John Reply
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Siyaka Reply
A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance
Jude Reply
Can you compute that for me. Ty
Jude
what is the dimension formula of energy?
David Reply
what is viscosity?
David
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emma Reply
what is chemistry
Youesf Reply
what is inorganic
emma
Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes
Adjei
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Adjanou
chemistry could also be understood like the sexual attraction/repulsion of the male and female elements. the reaction varies depending on the energy differences of each given gender. + masculine -female.
Pedro
A ball is thrown straight up.it passes a 2.0m high window 7.50 m off the ground on it path up and takes 1.30 s to go past the window.what was the ball initial velocity
Krampah Reply
2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.
Sahid Reply
you have been hired as an espert witness in a court case involving an automobile accident. the accident involved car A of mass 1500kg which crashed into stationary car B of mass 1100kg. the driver of car A applied his brakes 15 m before he skidded and crashed into car B. after the collision, car A s
Samuel Reply
can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?
Joseph Reply
Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time
Joseph
Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing
Joseph
"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true
Ryan
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Maurice Reply
what are the types of wave
Maurice
answer
Magreth
progressive wave
Magreth
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fine, how about you?
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Mujahid
A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?
yasuo Reply
Who can show me the full solution in this problem?
Reofrir Reply
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Source:  OpenStax, College physics. OpenStax CNX. Jul 27, 2015 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11406/1.9
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