A large, thin, neutral conducting plate is mounted vertically on an insulating…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance · Electrostatic Potential and Capacitance
Problem
A large, thin, neutral conducting plate is mounted vertically on an insulating support. A positively charged rod is brought close to the front face of the plate and held fixed. While the rod is in place, the plate is connected to ground with a wire. A charge sensor in the grounding wire records that 4.0μC of charge passes through the wire during the grounding process.
Neglect edge effects so that the plate can be treated as effectively infinite.
(a) Determine the sign and magnitude of the charge that flows into or out of the plate during grounding. Explain your reasoning.
(b) The grounding wire is disconnected while the rod is still present, and then the rod is removed to a distant location. Calculate the final net charge on the plate and state whether it is positive, negative, or zero. Justify your answer using appropriate principles.
(c) Suppose instead the rod is removed before the grounding wire is disconnected. What would be the net charge on the plate in this alternate sequence? Explain clearly why the outcome differs from part (b).