Electrostatics

[electric charge and coulomb’s law]

Q1. Obtain the dimensional formula of 𝜖0.

Q2. Is the force acting between two point charges q1 and q2 kept at some distance
apart in air, attractive or repulsive when
(i) q1q2>0
(ii) q1q2<0

Q3. Calculate the electrostatic force between two alpha particles kept 1.6 cm
apart.(Note: alpha particle is a helium nucleus).
Q4. Calculate the distance between two protons such that the electrical repulsive
force between them is equal to the weight of either.

Q5. Force of attraction between two point charges placed at distance d apart in a
medium is F what should be the distance apart in the same medium so that the
force of attraction between them is 9F?
Q6. Two point charge 10μC and 20μC are separated by a distance r in vacuum. If an

additional charge of -8μC is given to each, by what factor does the force between

the charges change?

Q7. Two point charges are 3 m apart and their combined charge is 20μC. if one

repels the other with a force of 0.075 N, what are the two charges?

Q8. Four positive and equal charges of magnitude q are placed at the corners of a
square of side a. What is the force on

(a) A charge –q at the centre of square.

(b) On one of the charge due to other

Q9. Three charges q, q and –q are placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle of

side a. What is the force on

(a) –q charge due to other charges?

(b) Any +q due to others?

Q10. Two similarly and equally charged identical metallic sphere A and B repel each

other with a force of 2× N. A third identical uncharged sphere C is touched

with A and then placed at the mid-point between A and B. Calculate the

net electric force on C.?

Q11. Two fixed charges +4e and +e units are separate by a distance a. Where

should the third charge be placed for it to be in equilibrium?

Q12. Two point charges +9e and +e units are kept at a distance a from each

other. Where should we place a third charge q on the line joining the two

charges so that it may in equilibrium?

Q13. Two fixed charges -4e and +e units are separate by a distance a. Where

should the third charge be placed for it to be in equilibrium?

Q14. A charge q is placed at the centre of the line joining two equal charges Q.

show that the system of three charges will be in equilibrium, if q = -Q/4.

Q15. Four equal charges each 16μC are placed on the four corners of a square of

side 0.2m. Calculate the force on any one of the charges due to others.

Q16. Charges of +5μC, +10μC and -10μC are placed in air at the corners A, B

and C of an equilateral triangle ABC, having each side equal to 5 cm. determine

the resultant force on the charge at A.

Q17. Three point charges are placed at the following points on the X axis: 2μC at x=0,
-3μC at x=40cm and -5μC at x=120cm. Calculate the force on the -3μC charge.

Q18. Two insulating small spheres are rubbed against each other and placed

1cm apart. If they attract each other with a force of 0.1N, how many electrons

were transferred from one sphere to the other during rubbing?

Q19. Two identical spheres, having charges of opposite sign attract each other

with a force of 0.108N when separated by 0.5 m. The spheres are connected by a

conducting wire, which then removed, and thereafter they repel each other with a

force of 0.036N. What were the initial charges on the sphere?

Q20. An infinite number of charges each equal to 4μC are placed along x-axis at

x=1m, x=2m, x=4m, x=8m and so on. Find the total force on a on a charge of 1μC

placed at the origin

Assignment for Electric Field
[1].The electric force experienced by a charge of 1.0 C is 1.5 N.

Find the magnitude of the electric field at the position of the

charge.

[2].A point charge produces an electric field of magnitude 5.0N/C at a distance

of 40cm from it. What is the magnitude of the charge?

[3].Calculate the electric field strength required to just support a water drop of

mass 10-3kg and having a charge of 1.6x10-19 C.

[4].Two point charges of +3μC and -3μC are located 20cm apart in vacuum. Find

the electric field at a point on the axis 20 cm away from the centre of the dipole,

towards the positive charge.

[5].Two point charge of +5× C and +20× C separated by a distance of 2m.

Find the point on the line joining them at which electric field intensity is zero?

[6].Two point charges of +16μC and -9μC are placed 8 cm apart in ar. Determine

the position of the point at which the resultant field is zero.

[7].Two point charges q1 = +0.2C and q2= +0.4 C are placed 0.1 m apart. Calculate

the electric field at (a) The midpoint between the charges. (b) The point on the line joining
the charges such that it is 0.05 m away from q2 and 0.15m away from q1.

[8].Four charges +Q, -2Q, +2Q AND –Q are placed at the four vertices of

a square of side 5 cm. if Q = 10 nC. Find the magnitude and direction of

net electric field at the centre of the square.

[9]. Five charges q each are placed at the corners of a rectangular pentagon of side

a. (a) What will be the electric field at the centre of the pentagon?

(b) What will be the electric field at the centre if one of the charge is removed?

(c) What will be the electric field at centre if one of the charge is replaced by –q?
 Assignment for Electric Potential

Question1. Charges 2q and 8q are placed at the end points A and B

respectively of a 9 cm long straight line. A third charge q is placed at
a point C of AB such that the potential energy of the system is
minimum. The distance of C from A is
(a) 2 cm (b) 3 cm (c) 4 cm (d) 5 cm(

Question 2. A solid conducting sphere having a charge Q is surrounded by

an uncharged concentric conducting hollow spherical shell. Let the potential difference
between the surface of the solid sphere and that of the outer surface of the hollow shell be
V. If the shell is now given a charge of -3Q, the new potential difference between the same
two surfaces is
(a) V (b) 2V (c) 4 V (d) -2V

Question 3. The work done in carrying a charge Q1 once round a circle of radius R with a
charge Q2 at the centre is
(a) (Q1Q2)/4π ε0 R2 (b) Zero (c) (Q1Q2)/4π ε0 R (d) Infinite

Question 4. It requires 4 joules of work to move a charge of 20 C from point A to point B,

separated by a distance of 0.2 m. the potential difference between the points A and B, in
volts, is
(a) 80 (b) 16 (c) 5 (d) 0.2
(d
) 0.2
Question 5. Eight identical spherical drops of a liquid, each charged to the potential of 10 V,
are brought together and formed into a single drop.
The potential on the drop will be
(a) 20 V (b) 80 V (c) 40 V (d) 10 V
Question 6. The terminal potential difference of a battery exceeds its e.m.f,
when it is connected
(a) In series with a battery of higher e.m.f
(b) In parallel with a battery of higher e.m.f
(c) In parallel with a battery of lower e.m.f
(d) In series with a battery of lower e.m.f (b) In parallel with a battery of higher e.m.f
Question 7. An electron of charge e coulomb passes through a potential difference of V
volts. Its energy in joules will be
(a) V/e (b) eV (c) e/V (d) V
(b
(Question 8. A spherical conductor of radius 2 m is charged to a potential of 120V It is now
placed inside another hollow spherical conductor of radius 6 m.
Calculate the potential to which the bigger sphere would be raised if the
smaller sphere is made to touch the bigger sphere.
(a) 20 V (b) 60 V (c) 80 V (d) 40 V (e) 120 V
(d) 40 V
Question 9. How much work is required to carry a 6μC charge from the negative to the
positive terminal of a 9 V battery?
(a) 54× 10-3 J (b) 54 × 10-9 J (c) 54× 10-6 J (d) 54 × 10-12 J

Question 10. The potential at a point, due to a positive charge of 100 μC at a distance of 9
m, is
(a) 104 V (b) 106 V (c) 105 V (d) 107 V
Question 11. The potential on the hollow sphere of radius 1 m is 1000 V, then
the potential at( ¼) m from the centre of the sphere is
(a) 1000 V (b) 500 V (c) 250 V (d) Zero V

Question 12. An electron initially at rest, is accelerated through a potential difference of 200
volt, so that it acquires a velocity 8.4 × 106m / s. The value of (e/m) of the electron will be
(a) 1.76 × 1011 C/kg (b) 2.76 × 1012 C/kg (c)0.76 × 1012 C/kg (d) None of
these
12. (a) K. gained by an electron when accelerated through a potential
Question 13.The angle between the electric lines of force and an equipotential
surface
(a) 45° (b) 90° (c) 0° (d) 180°

Question 14. At a point A, there is an electric field of 500 V/m, and potential
difference of 3000 V. The distance between the point charge and A is
(a) 6 m (b) 36 m (c) 12 m (d) 144 m
14. (a) 𝐄 =
𝟏Question 15. Some charge is being given to a conductor. Then, it's potential
(a) is maximum at the surface.
(b) is maximum at the centre.
(c) remains the same throughout the conductor.
(d) is maximum somewhere between surface and centre.
15.as that on its
.
Question 16. In bringing an electron towards another electron, the electrostatic
potential energy of the system
(a) increases (b) decreases (c) remains unchanged (d) becomes zero

Question 17. Four point charges -Q, -q, 2q and 2 Q are placed, one at each comer
of the square. The relation between Q and q for which the potential at the centre
of the square is zero is
(a) Q = -q (b) Q = -1/q (c) Q = q (d) Q = 1/q

17.(a) Potential at the centre O is

Question 18. Three concentric spherical shells have radii a, b and c(a < b < c) and
have surface charge densities σ, -σ and σ, respectively. If VA, VB and VC denote
the potentials of the three shells, then for c = a + b, we have
(a) VC = VB ≠ VA (b) Vc ≠ VB ≠ VA (c) VC = VB = VA (d) VC = VA ≠ VB 16.(a)
𝐪Question 19. An electric dipole of moment 'p' is placed in an electric field of
intensity ‘E’. The dipole acquires a position such that the axis of the dipole makes
an angle θ with the direction of the field. Assuming that the potential energy of
the dipole to be zero when θ = 90°, the torque and the potential energy of the
dipole will respectively be
(a) pE sin θ, - pE cos θ (b) pE sin θ, - 2 pE cos θ
(c) pE sin θ, 2 γE cos θ (d) pE cos θ, - pE cos θ
19. (a) 𝝉 = 𝐩𝐄 sin θ
Question 20. The electric potential at a point (x, y, z) is given by V = -x2 y – xz 3 +4
20. (d) 𝐄􁈬 ⃗ = −
𝛛𝐕

𝛛𝐫
𝛛𝐱
 ASSIGNMENT ON CAPACITORS􀬍̂ −ASS
𝛛𝐕
𝐫𝟐 and13

Question 1. A capacitor C1 is charged to a p.d. V. the charging battery is then

removed, and the capacitor is connected to an unchanged capacitor C2. The
final p.d. across the combination is
(a) V [(C1)/(C1+C2)] (b) V [(C2)/(C1+C2)] (c) V [(C1+C2)/(C1)] (d) V [(C1+C2)/(C2)]
(a) V [(C1)/(C1+C2)]
Question 2. Two capacitors, C1 = 2μF and C2 = 8μF are connected in series
across a 300 V source. Then
(a) The charge on each capacitor is 4.8 × 10-4 C
(b) The potential difference across C1 is 60 V
(c) The potential difference across C2 is 240 V
(d) The energy stored in the system is 7.2 × 10-2 J (

Question 3. A parallel plate capacitor of capacitance 100 μμF is charged to

500 V. the plate separation is then reduced to half its original value. Then
(a) The potential on the capacitor becomes 1000 V
(b) The potential on the capacitor becomes 250 V
(c) The charge in the stored energy is 3.75 ×10-5 J
(d) The charge in the stored energy is 6.25 ×10-6 J

Question 4. A capacitor of capacitance 1.0 μF can withstand a maximum

voltage of 6.0 kV and another capacitor of capacitance 2.0 μF can withstand
a maximum voltage of 4.0 kV. The series combination of these two
capacitors will withstand a maximum voltage of
(a) 4.0 kV (b) 6.0 kV (c) 9.0 kV (d) 10 kV

Question 5. When two capacitors are charged to different potentials and then
connected parallel to each other, the net
(a) Charge equals the sum of the initial individual charges
(b) The potential difference across them equal the sum of the initial individual
potential differences
(c) The potential difference across them is different from the sum of the initial
individual potential differences
(d) Energy stored in the combination is less than the sum of the initial
individual energies (b) The potential on the capacitor become electric 11. (a) Same reason as
9. (c) W = Q
Question 6. The radii of two spheres forming a spherical condenser are 0.5
m and 0.6 m. if a medium of dielectric constant 6 is completely filled in
between, the capacity of the condenser will be
(a) 3.3 × 10-10 F (b) 2× 10-9 F (c) 2F (d) 18 F
(b) 2× 10-9 F
Question 7. A condenser of capacity C1 is charged to a certain potential. The
electrostatic energy stored in it is U. if it is connected to an another uncharged
condenser of capacity C2 in parallel, the energy dissipated in the process
will be
(a) C2 U/ (C1 + C2) (b) C1 U/ (C1 + C2)
(c) [(C1 – C2)/ (C1 + C2)] 2U (d) [(C1C2)/2(C1 + C2)] U
(a) C2 U/ (C1 + C2) (a)ASS
Question 8. The space between the plates of a capacitor is filled by a liquid
of dielectric constant K. the capacitance of the capacitor
(a) Increases by a factor K
(b) Increases by a factor K2
(c) Decreases by a factor K
(d) Decreases by a factor K2

Question 9. A parallel plate capacitor of value 1.77 μF is to be designed using a dielectric

material (dielectric constant = 200, breakdown strength = 3× 106 Vm-1). In order to make
such a capacitor, which can withstand a potential difference of 20 V across the plates, the
separation between the plates d and the area A of the plates can be
(ε0 = 8.85 × 10-12 C2 N-1 m-2)

(a) d = 10-6 m, A = 10-3 m2

(b) d = 10-5 m, A = 10-2 m2
(c) d = 10-4 m, A = 10-4 m2
(d) d = 10-4 m, A = 10-5 m2

Question 10. Two vertical metallic plates carrying equal and opposite charges are kept
parallel to each other like a parallel plate capacitor. A small spherical metallic ball is
suspended by a long insulated thread such that it hangs freely in the centre of the two
metallic plates. The ball, which is uncharged, is taken slowly towards the positively charged
plate and is made to touch that plate. Then the ball will

(a) Stick to the positively charged plate

(b) Come back to its original position and will remain there
(c) Oscillate between the two plates touching each plate in turn
(d) Oscillates between the two plates without touching them
(c) Oscillate between the two plates touching each plate in turn
Question 11. The capacity and energy stored in a parallel plate condenser with air between
the plates are respectively C and W. if the air is replaced by mica (dielectric constant = 6)
between the plates and the charge remaining constant, the capacity and energy will
become, respectively

(a) 6C, W/6 (b) C/6, 6W (c) C/6, W/6 (d) 6C, 6W
(a) 6C, W/6
Question 12. While a capacitor remains connected to a battery, a dielectric slab is slipped
between the plates.

(a) The electric field between the plates increases

(b) The energy stored in the capacitor decreases
(c) The potential difference between the plates is changed
(d) Charges flow from the battery to the capacitor

(Question 13. A spherical drop of capacitance 1 μF is broken into eight drops of

equal radius. Then, the capacitance of each small drop is

(a) 𝟏/2μF (b) 𝟏/4μF (c) 𝟏/8μF (d) 8 μF

13. (a) 𝟒

Question 14. When a capacitor is connected to a battery,

(a) a current flows in the circuit for some time, then decreases to zero.
(b) no current flows in the circuit at all.
(c) an alternating current flows in the circuit.
(d) none of the above
14. (a) A current flows in the ciuring the time the capacitor is
charged. After the capacitory charged, the current stops flowing.
Question 15. In the capacitor of capacitance C, charge Q and energy W is stored. If the
charge is increased up to 2 Q, the energy stored will be
(a) 𝐖/4 (b) 𝐖/2 (c) 2W (d) 4W
15. (d) 𝐖 =
Question 16. A 40 F capacitor in a defibrillator is charged to 3000 V. The energy stored in the
capacitor is sent through the patient during a pulse of duration 2ms. The power delivered to
the patient is
(a) 45 kW (b) 90 kW (c) 180 kW (d) 360 kW

Question 17. A conducting sphere of radius R carrying charge Q lies inside an

uncharged conducting shell of radius 2R. If they are joined by a metal wire, the
amount of heat that will be produced isaf
l

o
Question 18. Three capacitors of capacitances 1μF, 2μF and 3μF are connected in series,
and a p.d. of 11 V is applied across the combination. Then, the p.d. across the plates of 1 μF
capacitor is

(a) 2V (b) 4 V (c) 1V (d) 6 V

Question 19. A parallel plate capacitor C has a charge Q. The actual charges on
its plates are

(a) Q/Q (b) Q/2, Q/2 (c)Q,-Q (d) Q/2,-Q/2

19.c) The Q charge on a capacitor indicates that the chargon its
plates are +Q and -Q.
Question 20. A parallel plate air capacitor is charged and then isolated. When a dielectric
material is inserted between the plates of the capacitor, then which
of the following does not change?

(a) The electric field between the plates

(b) The potential difference across the plates
(c) Charge on the plates
(d) Energy stored in the capacitor

Question 21. An air-filled parallel plate condenser has a capacity of 2 pF. The separation of
the plates is doubled, and the interspace between the plates is filled with wax. If the
capacity is increased to 6 pF, the dielectric constant of wax is

(a) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 6

Question 22. A parallel plate air capacitor has a capacitance C. When it is half-filled with a
dielectric of dielectric constant 5, the percentage increase in the capacitance will be

(a) 400% (b) 66.6% (c) 33.3% (d) 200%

Question 23. Two capacitors of capacitance C are connected in series. If one of
them is filled with dielectric substance κ, what is the effective capacitance?

23. (a) We now have two

capacitors of capacitances 𝐂 and 𝛋𝐂
connected in senes