If the electric field due to a charged plane sheet is E, what is the electric field due to two parallel sheets with equal and opposite charge densities?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
If the electric field due to a charged plane sheet is E, what is the electric field due to two parallel sheets with equal and opposite charge densities?
0
E
2E
E/2
The fields due to the two sheets add up in the region between them, resulting in a total electric field of 2E.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: If the electric field due to a charged plane sheet is E, what is the electric field due to two parallel sheets with equal and opposite charge densities?
Solution: The fields due to the two sheets add up in the region between them, resulting in a total electric field of 2E.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand that a charged plane sheet creates an electric field (E) that points away from the sheet if it is positively charged and towards the sheet if it is negatively charged.
Step 2: Consider two parallel sheets. One sheet has a positive charge density and the other has an equal but negative charge density.
Step 3: Identify the direction of the electric fields created by each sheet. The positive sheet creates an electric field pointing away from it, while the negative sheet creates an electric field pointing towards it.
Step 4: In the region between the two sheets, the electric fields from both sheets will add together because they are in the same direction (the field from the positive sheet points away and the field from the negative sheet points towards the positive sheet).
Step 5: Since both sheets create an electric field of magnitude E, the total electric field in the region between the sheets is E (from the positive sheet) + E (from the negative sheet) = 2E.
Step 6: Conclude that the total electric field due to the two parallel sheets with equal and opposite charge densities is 2E.
