A student attempts to sketch the electric-field pattern produced by two identical…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Electric Charges and Fields · Electric Charges and Fields
Problem
A student attempts to sketch the electric-field pattern produced by two identical positive point charges separated by a distance L. The student’s verbal description of the sketch is reproduced below.
• From each charge, five lines radiate outward.
• Several of these lines curve toward the opposite charge, and two of them intersect each other halfway between the charges.
• Two lines appear to originate in empty space between the charges and then terminate on a charge.
Using the principles of electric-field line construction, analyze the student’s sketch.
(a) Identify and explain three distinct violations of standard electric-field line conventions present in the student’s description.
(b) For each violation identified in part (a), describe how the sketch should be corrected to conform to accepted rules.
(c) After making the corrections, predict the qualitative shape of a correct field-line pattern for the two-charge system, emphasizing symmetry, line origin and termination, and regions where field-line density is greatest.