1

Physics 503
Midterm Exam 2012
Problem 1 Two equal charges +Q are separated by a distance 2d. A grounded conducting sphere is placed midway between
them.

a) What is the electrostatic potential of the system. Express it in terms of r and , where the z axis passes
through the two charges and the sphere center.
b) What is the induced surface charge density () on the sphere?
c) What must the radius of the sphere be if the two charges are to experience zero total force?
Solution 1
a) We use the method of images, and the method of superposition. For one charge we derived the potential in class
q
(r, ) =
40

a
1

2
2
2
2
r 2rd cos + d
r d 2rda2 cos + a4


(1)

For the second charge we just change d d and conclude

(r, ) =

q
40

1
1
a
a

r2 2rd cos + d2 r2 + 2rd cos + d2

r2 d2 2rda2 cos + a4
r2 d2 + 2rda2 cos + a4

b) For one charge we derived in the class the following surface charge distribution
q
d2 a2
2
4a (d 2ad cos + a2 )3/2

(2)

q
q
d2 a2
d2 a2

2
2
3/2
2
4a (d 2ad cos + a )
4a (d + 2ad cos + a2 )3/2

(3)

=
For two charges we have
=

c) To compute the force on one charge, we will use the equivalent system of point charges (method of images),
which gives
q2
F =
40

1
a/d
a/d

2
2
2
(2d)
(d + a /d)
(d a2 /d)2


(4)

By introducing a variable x = a/d we arrive at

x16 10x4 8x + 1 = 0
with the solution x 0.124698..

(5)

2
Problem 2 A long conducting cylinder of radius a is split in two halves parallel to its axis. The two halves are held at
potential +V0 and V0 . There is no net charge on the system.
a) Calculate the electric potential distribution throughout space.
b) Calculate the electric field for r  a.
c) Calculate the electric field for r  a.

Solution 2
a) Result can be expressed in terms of solutions of the Laplace equation in cylindrical coordinates.
The solution inside the cylinder can be expanded
X
(r, , z) =
Jm (kr) cosh(kz) [am sin(m) + bm cos(m)]

(6)

At the end, we are going to perform the limit k 0 for which there is no z dependence.
The boundary condition is (a, , z) = V () with V ( < ) = V0 and V ( > ) = V0 .
The coefficients bm vanish, while the coefficients am satisfy
Z 2
V () sin(m)d = Jm (ka) cosh(kz)am

(7)

which gives
am =

V0
2 [1 (1)m ]
m
Jm (ka) cosh(kz)

(8)

and hence
(r, , z) = V0

X 2 [1 (1)m ] Jm (kr)
m

Jm (ka)

sin(m)

(9)

Now we can perform the limit k 0, and since we know that Jm (x) xm at small x, we obtain
(r, , z) = V0

4 X sin((2n + 1))  r 2n+1

n=0
(2n + 1)
a

For the outside problem, we need to choose Nm (kr), and the resulting potential is than proportional to
By noticing that for m > 0, the expansion of Nm at small x is Nm (x) 1/xm , we obtain
(r, , z) = V0

Nm (kr)
Nm (ka) .

4 X sin((2n + 1))  a 2n+1

n=0
(2n + 1)
r

The solution can also be cast into a closed form since the series
=

(10)

2V0
2ar sin
arctan 2

|r a2 |

(11)

x2n+1 /(2n + 1) = arctanh(x). We get

(12)

3
b) At small r we have
(r, ) =

4V0 r
sin
a

(13)

The electric field is hence

4V0
sin
a
4V0
E =
cos
a
Er =

(14)
(15)

c) At large r we have
(r, ) =

4V0 a
sin
r

(16)

The electric field is hence

4V0 a
sin
r2
4V0 a
E = 2 cos
r
Er =

(17)
(18)