(a) Define the electrical potential energy of a configuration of point charges placed…
PHYSICS · Subjective · CBSE · Physics · Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance · Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance
Problem
(a) Define the electrical potential energy of a configuration of point charges placed in vacuum.
(b) A student claims that when n point charges are brought from infinity and fixed at the corners of a rigid insulating frame, the total electrical potential energy of the configuration can be obtained by adding the energies of all distinct charge–charge pairs only. Explain why self-energies or ordered pairs need not be counted.
(c) Show that the number of distinct pairs that appear in the final expression is 2n(n−1).
(d) Write the general symbolic expression for the total electrical potential energy of the n–charge system using your result of part (c).