ELECTRIC CHARGES AND FIELDS

NCERT AND PYQ DRILL

1. A polythene piece rubbed with wool is found to have a negative charge of 3 × 10–7 C.
(a) Estimate the number of electrons transferred (from which to which?).
(b) Is there a transfer of mass from wool to polythene?

2. What is the force between two small charged spheres having charges of 2 × 10–7 C and 3 × 10–7 C placed 30 cm apart in
air?

3. The electrostatic force on a small sphere of charge 0.4 µC due to another small sphere of charge – 0.8 µC in air is 0.2
N.
(a) What is the distance between the two spheres?
(b) What is the force on the second sphere due to the first?

4. Four point charges qA = 2 µC, qB = – 5 µC, qC = 2 µC and qD = – 5 µC are located at the corners of a square ABCD of side
10 cm. What is the force on a charge of 1 µC placed at the centre of the sphere?

5. (a) Two insulated charged copper spheres A and B have their centres separated by a distance of 50 cm. What is the
mutual force of electrostatic repulsion if the charge on each is 6.5 × 10–7 C? The radii of A and B are negligible compared
to the distance of separation.
(b) What is the force of repulsion if each sphere is charged double the above amount, and the distance between them is
halved?

6. Suppose the spheres A and B in above question have identical sizes. A third sphere of the same size but uncharged is
brought in contact with the first, then brought in contact with the second, and finally removed from both. What is the
new force of repulsion between A and B?

7. Two point charges qA = + 3 µC and qB = – 3 µC are located 20 cm apart in vacuum.

(a) What is the electric field at the mid point O of the line AB joining the two charges?
(b) If a negative test charge of magnitude 1.5×10–9 C is placed at this point, what is the force experienced by the test
charge?

8. A system has two charges qA = 2.5 × 10–7 C and qB = – 2.5 × 10–7 C located at points A = (0, 0, –15 cm) and B = (0, 0, +15
cm) respectively. What are the total charge and electric dipole moment of the system?

9. An electric dipole with a dipole moment 4 × 10–9 Cm is aligned at 30° with the direction of a uniform electric field of
magnitude 5 × 104 NC–1 Calculate the magnitude of the torque acting on the dipole.

10. A conducting sphere of radius 10 cm has an unknown charge. If the electric field 20 cm from the centre of sphere is
1.5 × 103 NC–1 and points radially inward, what is the net charge on the sphere?

11. An infinite line charge produces an electric field of 9 × 104 NC–1 at a distance of 2 cm. Calculate the linear charge
density.

12. An oil drop of 12 excess electrons is held stationary under a constant electric field of 2.55 × 104 NC–1 in Millikan’s oil
drop experiment. The density of the oil is 1.26 g cm–3. Estimate the radius of the drop (g = 9.81 ms–2; e = 1.60 × 10–19 C)

13. Consider a uniform electric field E = 3 × 103 i NC-1.

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(a) What is the flux of this field through a square of 10 cm on a side whose plane is parallel to the yz plane?
(b) What is the flux through the same square if the normal to its plane makes a 60° angle with the x-axis?

14. What is the net flux of the uniform electric field E = 3 × 103 i NC-1 through a cube of side 20 cm oriented so that its
faces are parallel to the coordinate planes?

15. Careful measurement of the electric field at the surface of a black box indicate that the net outward flux through the
surface of the box is 8.0 × 103 Nm2/C.
(a) What is the net charge inside the box?
(b) If the net outward flux through the surface of the box were zero, could you conclude that there were no charges
inside the box? Why or Why not?

16. A point charge + 10 µC is at a distance 5 cm directly above the centre of a square of side 10 cm as shown in figure.
What is the magnitude of the electric flux through the square? [Hint: Think of the square as one face of a cube with edge
10 cm]

17. A point charge of 2.0 µC is at the centre of a cubic Gaussian surface 9.0 cm on edge. What is the net electric flux
through the surface?

18. A point charge causes an electric flux of – 1.0 × 103 Nm2C–1 to pass through a spherical surface of 10.0 cm radius
centred on the charge.
(a) If the radius of the Gaussian surface were doubled, how much flux would pass through the surface?
(b) What is the value of the point charge?

19. A uniformly charged conducting sphere of 2.4 m diameter has a surface charge density of 80.0 µC/m2
(a) Find the charge on the sphere.
(b) What is the total electric flux leaving the surface of the sphere?

20. Two large, thin metal plates are parallel and close to each other. On their inner faces, the plates have surface charge
densities of opposite signs and of magnitude 17.0 × 10–22 C/m2 What is electric field strength E:
(a) in the outer region of the first plate,
(b) in the outer region of the second plate, and
(c) between the plates?

21. Sketch the electric field lines for two point charges q1 and q2 for q1 = q2 and q1 > q2 separated by a distance d. [CBSE
2019 (55/2/3)]

22. Draw the pattern of electric field lines, when a point charge –Q is kept near an uncharged conducting plate. [CBSE
2019 (55/1/1)]

23. Why do the electrostatic field lines not form closed loops? [CBSE (AI) 2014]

24. Two identical conducting balls A and B have charges –Q and +3Q respectively. They are brought in contact with each
other and then separated by a distance d apart. Find the nature of the Coulomb force between them. [CBSE 2019
(55/4/1)]

25. Two insulated charged copper spheres A and B of identical size have charges qA and qB respectively. A third sphere C
of the same size but uncharged is brought in contact with the first and then in contact with the second and finally
removed from both. What are the new charges on A and B? [CBSE (F) 2011]

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26. Two charges of magnitudes – 2Q and + Q are located at points (a, 0) and (4a, 0) respectively. What is the electric flux
due to these charges through a sphere of radius ‘3a’ with its centre at the origin? [CBSE (AI) 2013]

27. A metal sphere is kept on an insulating stand. A negatively charged rod is brought near it, then the sphere is earthed
as shown. On removing the earthing, and taking the negatively charged rod away, what will be the nature of charge on
the sphere? Give reason for your answer. [CBSE 2019 (55/3/1)]

28. A charge Q µC is placed at the centre of a cube. What would be the flux through one face? [CBSE (F) 2010, (AI) 2012]

29. A charge q is placed at the centre of a cube of side l. What is the electric flux passing through two opposite faces of
the cube? [CBSE (AI) 2012]

30. (a) An electrostatic field line is a continuous curve. That is, a field line cannot have sudden breaks. Why is it so?
(b) Explain why two field lines never cross each other at any point. [CBSE (AI) 2014]

31. Define electric dipole moment. Is it a scalar or a vector quantity? What are its SI unit? [CBSE (AI) 2011, 2013, (F)
2009, 2012, 2013]

32. Two equal balls having equal positive charge ‘q’ coulombs are suspended by two insulating strings of equal length.
What would be the effect on the force when a plastic sheet is inserted between the two? [CBSE AI 2014]

33. An electric dipole is held in a uniform electric field.

(i) Show that the net force acting on it is zero.
(ii) The dipole is aligned parallel to the field. Find the work done in rotating it through the angle of 180°. [CBSE (AI) 2012]

34. (a) Define electric flux. Write its SI unit.

(b) A spherical rubber balloon carries a charge that is uniformly distributed over its surface. As the balloon is blown up
and increases in size, how does the total electric flux coming out of the surface change? Give reason. [CBSE (F) 2016]

35. Two concentric metallic spherical shells of radii R and 2R are given charges Q1 and Q2 respectively. The surface charge
densities on the outer surfaces of the shells are equal. Determine the ratio Q1 : Q2. [CBSE (F) 2013]

36. The sum of two point charges is 7 µC. They repel each other with a force of 1 N when kept 30 cm apart in free space.
Calculate the value of each charge. [CBSE (F) 2009]

37. Two identical point charges, q each, are kept 2 m apart in air. A third point charge Q of unknown magnitude and sign
is placed on the line joining the charges such that the system remains in equilibrium. Find the position and nature of Q.
[CBSE 2019 (55/1/1)]

38. Calculate the amount of work done in rotating a dipole, of dipole moment 3 × 10–8 Cm, from its position of stable
equilibrium to the position of unstable equilibrium, in a uniform electric field of intensity 104 N/C. [CBSE (F) 2011]

39. Five point charges, each of charge +q are placed on five vertices of a regular hexagon of side ‘l’. Find the magnitude
of the resultant force on a charge –q placed at the centre of the hexagon. [CBSE 2019 (53/3/1)]

40. Four point charges Q, q, Q and q are placed at the corners of a square of side ‘a’ as shown in the figure. Find the
resultant electric force on a charge Q. [CBSE 2018]

41. Three point charges q, – 4q and 2q are placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle ABC of side ‘l’ as shown in the
figure. Obtain the expression for the magnitude of the resultant electric force acting on the charge q. [CBSE 2018]

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42. A simple pendulum consists of a small sphere of mass m suspended by a thread of length l. The sphere carries a
positive charge q. The pendulum is placed in a uniform electric field of strength E directed vertically downwards. Find the
period of oscillation of the pendulum due to the electrostatic force acting on the sphere, neglecting the effect of the
gravitational force. [CBSE 2019 (53/3/1)]

43. A spherical conducting shell of inner radius r1 and outer radius r2 has a charge ‘Q’. A charge ‘q’ is placed at the centre
of the shell.
(a) What is the surface charge density on the
(i) inner surface, (ii) outer surface of the shell?
(b) Write the expression for the electric field at a point x > r2 from the centre of the shell. [CBSE (AI) 2010]

44. Three point electric charges +q each are kept at the vertices of an equilateral triangle of side a. Determine the
magnitude and sign of the charge to be kept at the centroid of the triangle so that the charges at the vertices remain in
equilibrium. [CBSE (F) 2015]

45. (a) An infinitely long positively charged straight wire has a linear charge density λ Cm–1. An electron is revolving
around the wire as its centre with a constant velocity in a circular plane perpendicular to the wire. Deduce the
expression for its kinetic energy.
(b) Plot a graph of the kinetic energy as a function of charge density λ. [CBSE (F) 2013]

46. Two small identical electrical dipoles AB and CD, each of dipole moment ‘p’ are kept at an angle of 120° as shown in
the figure. What is the resultant dipole moment of this combination? If this system is subjected to electric field (E)
directed along + X direction, what will be the magnitude and direction of the torque acting on this? [CBSE 2020 (55/2/1)]

47. State Gauss’s law in electrostatics. A cube with each side ‘a’ is kept in an electric field given by E = C × r, (as is shown
in the figure) where C is a positive dimensional constant. Find out
(i) the electric flux through the cube, and
(ii) the net charge inside the cube. [CBSE (F) 2012]

48. (a) Find expressions for the force and torque on an electric dipole kept in a uniform electric field. [CBSE (AI) 2014;
2019 (55/5/1); 2020 (55/3/1)]
OR
An electric dipole is held in a uniform electric field.
(i) Using suitable diagram show that it does not undergo any translatory motion, and
(ii) derive an expression for torque acting on it and specify its direction.
(b) Derive an expression for the work done in rotating a dipole from the angle θ0 to θ1 in a uniform electric field E. [CBSE
East 2016]
OR
(i) Define torque acting on a dipole of dipole moment p placed in a uniform electric field E. Express it in the vector form
and point out the direction along which it acts.
(ii) What happens if the field is non-uniform?
(iii) What would happen if the external field E is increasing (i) parallel to p and (ii) antiparallel to p ? [CBSE (F) 2016]

49. Find an expression for the electric field strength at a distant point situated (i) on the axis and (ii) along the equatorial
line of an electric dipole. [CBSE (AI) 2013; (F) 2015; 2019 (55/5/1)]
OR
Derive an expression for the electric field intensity at a point on the equatorial line of an electric dipole of dipole
moment p and length 2a. What is the direction of this field? [CBSE South 2016; 2019 (55/1/1)]

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50. State and Prove Gauss theorem in electrostatics. [CBSE Ajmer 2015]

51. (i) Using Gauss Theorem show mathematically that for any point outside the shell, the field due to a uniformly
charged spherical shell is same as the entire charge on the shell, is concentrated at the centre. [CBSE 2019 (55/4/1)]
(ii) Why do you expect the electric field inside the shell to be zero according to this theorem?
OR
A thin conducting spherical shell of radius R has charge Q spread uniformly over its surface. Using Gauss’s theorem,
derive an expression for the electric field at a point outside the shell. [CBSE Delhi 2009]
Draw a graph of electric field E(r) with distance r from the centre of the shell for 0 ≤ r ≤∞.
OR
Find the electric field intensity due to a uniformly charged spherical shell at a point (i) outside the shell and (ii) inside the
shell. Plot the graph of electric field with distance from the centre of the shell. [CBSE North 2016; 2020 (55/1/1)]
OR
Using Gauss’s law obtain the expression for the electric field due to a uniformly charged thin spherical shell of radius R at
a point outside the shell. Draw a graph showing the variation of electric field with r, for r > R and r < R. [CBSE (AI) 2013;
2020 (55/2/1)]

52. State Gauss theorem in electrostatics. Apply this theorem to obtain the expression for the electric field at a point due
to an infinitely long, thin, uniformly charged straight wire of linear charge density λ C m–1. [CBSE Delhi 2009; 2020
(55/5/1)]

53. (a) Define electric flux. Write its SI unit.

(b) Using Gauss’s law, prove that the electric field at a point due to a uniformly charged infinite plane sheet is
independent of the distance from it.
(c) How is the field directed if (i) the sheet is positively charged, (ii) negatively charged? [CBSE Delhi 2012, Central 2016]

54. Apply Gauss’s Theorem to find the electric field near a charged conductor.
OR
Show that the electric field at the surface of a charged conductor is E = (σ / 𝜀0)n where σ is surface charge density and n
is a unit vector normal to the surface in the outward direction. [CBSE (AI) 2010]

Physics by Vipin Sirohi (9457819269)