ch4 Electric potential.pptVIP

* Chapter 4 Electric Potential 4-1 Electric Potential Energy 4-2 Electric Potential 4-3 Equipotential Surfaces 4-4 Calculating the Field from the Potential 4-5 Potentials and Fields around Conductors 4-1 Electric Potential Energy dr ra rb q q0 a b ? The figure shows a point charge q that is fixed in place. When a test charge q0 moves from point a to point b along an arbitrary path, work done by the electric force due to q on q0 is Where Therefore The work done by the electrostatic force produced by a point charge depends only on the initial position and final position of charge q0, not on the path taken by q0. caused by a system of point charges: q1, q2, ?, qn. When the test charge q0 moves from point a to point b, the total work done on q0 is then Suppose the electric field in which charge moves is Therefore, depends only on ria and rib Conclusion: the electrostatic force is conservative force. Work Done by Electrostatic Force Electric Potential Energy Gravitational force Electrostatic force Identical A conservative force A conservative force A system of charged particles Electric potential energy U Change in potential energy: ?U = Ub? Ua= ? Wab the system: state a ? state b the electrostatic force does work Wab dr ra rb q q0 a b ? or For convenience, we usually take the reference configuration of a system of charged particles to be that in which the particles are all infinitely separated from each other. If point b is chosen as the reference point, Ub = 0, then It can be convenient and natural to choose the reference at infinity: U = 0 at r = ? dr ra rb q q0 a b ? The potential energy U of a charge q0, a distance r from charge q is Checkpoint 1 Example 4-1 Find the electrostatic potential energy between two of the 92 protons in a 236U nucleus in which the protons are as close as they can be inside a uranium nucleus, about 2?10?15 m apart. The radius of a uranium nucleus is about 8?10?15 m. Solution: We take zero potential e