2.

1 Review Questions
Thursday, 5 March 2015

12:14 AM

Questions
1 Why was Benjamin Franklins kite-flying experiment so dangerous?

2 What are some of the ways in which our lives would be different if we did not have electricity?
3 List some of the electric motors in your household. How many do you think would be found in the
average household?
4 Both simple electrostatic and magnetic experiments show forces that act through space between
two different types of object. What similarities and differences can you think of in the results
obtained from simple electrostatic experiments and those performed with magnets?
5 Why do you think that early experimenters such as Franklin concluded that there were only two
types of electric charge and not more?
6 Plastic strip A, when rubbed, is found to attract strip B. Strip C is found to repel strip B. What will
happen when strip A and strip C are brought close together?
7 Some early theoreticians thought that electricity was a sort of fluid that could be transferred from
one material to another. How could this model account for the fact that there were two types of
charge?
8 Why does a Van de Graaff generator have a smooth round aluminium dome on the top rather
than, say, an aluminium cube that would be easier to make?
9 Why is it not safe to stand under an isolated tree in a thunderstorm? What should you do if caught
out in a thunderstorm?
10 We could use the terms red and black to describe the two different types of charge. What
advantages do the terms positive and negative have over the use of colours as labels for charge?

Section 2.1 Page 1

2.2 Review Questions

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

2:54 PM

Questions
1 A charge of +q is placed a distance r from another charge also of +q. A repulsive force of magnitude
F is found to exist between them. Describe the changes, if any, that will occur in the force when:
a one of the charges is doubled to +2q

b both charges are doubled to +2q

c one of the charges is changed to q

d the distance between the charges is changed to 2r.

2 What force would exist between two 1 C charges if we could place them 100 m apart?

3 How practical would it be to set up the situation described in the previous question?

4 Danielle and Daniel set up two Van de Graaff machines exactly 80 cm apart (centre to centre) on
frictionless trolleys that allow them to measure the force between them. They read that the
manufacturer states that it is possible to obtain a charge of 5 micro Coulomb on the domes of the
machines and then proceed to use Coulombs law to calculate the force they expect to find between
them.
a What force do they expect to find between the machines?

b Assuming that the charge on each machine is 5 micro Coulomb, why do they find that the
measured force is less than they expect?

Section 2.1 Page 2

5 Some small charged spheres are to be placed in an electric field which points downwards and has a
strength of 5000 N C^1.
a What force would be experienced by charges of +2 micro Coulomb and 5 micro Coulomb?
(2 separate questions to consider)

b A sphere with an unknown charge is found to experience an upwards force of 1 x 10^3 N in this
field. What was the charge on the sphere?

Section 2.1 Page 3

2.3 Review Questions

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

2:54 PM

Questions
1 What current flows in a light bulb through which a charge of 30 C flows in:
a 10 seconds?
b 1 minute?
c 1 hour?
2 A car headlight may draw a current of 5 A. How much charge will have flowed through it in:
a 1 second?
b 1 minute?
c 1 hour?
3 a In a solution of salt water a total positive charge of +15 C was seen to move past a point to the
right in 5 s, and in the same time a total negative charge of 30 C was seen to move to the left.
What was the current through the solution during this time?
b Some time later it was found that in 5 s a total of +5 C had moved to the right while 15 C had
moved to the right as well. What was the current this time?
4 Using the values given in Table 2.2, find the amount of charge that would flow through a:
a pocket calculator in 10 min
b car starter motor in 5 s
c light bulb in 1 h.
5 Do the values for the charge that you obtained in Question 4 indicate the amount of energy
required to operate the devices for those times? Explain.
6 The dome on a fully charged Van de Graaff machine may carry something of the order of 50 million
million extra electrons. When running well it may take about 3 s to charge up. If we assume no loss
of charge in this time, what is the current flowing up the belt to the dome?
7 When water runs through a hose at the rate of 0.5 litres per second, it can be calculated that 1.7 x
10^26 electrons pass any point in the hose each second.
Section 2.1 Page 4

10^26 electrons pass any point in the hose each second.

a What electric current (in amps) does this represent?
b Is this the actual electric current in the hose? Explain.
8 Although you will not normally get a shock if you put your hands on the terminals of a car battery,
you will if you touch the spark plugs while the engine is running. Why is this?

9 a What is the EMF of a battery that gives a charge of 10 C: b What current flowed in each case?
i 40 J of energy in 1 second?
ii 40 J of energy in 10 seconds?
iii 20 J of energy in 10 seconds?

10 The negative terminal of a 12 V car battery is connected to the car frame, which can be regarded
as ground, at a potential of 0 V. What is the potential of the other terminal?
A 0 V B 12 V C +6 V D +12 V
11 A charge of 5 C flows from a battery through an electric water heater and delivers 100 J of heat to
the water. What was the potential of the battery?
12 How much energy will each coulomb of charge flowing from a 9 V transistor radio battery
possess?
13 How much charge must have flowed through a 12 V car battery if 2 kJ of energy was delivered to
the starter motor?
14 In comparing the electrical energy obtained from a battery to the energy of water stored in a
hydroelectric system dam in the mountains, to what could the EMF of the battery be likened?

Section 2.1 Page 5

2.4 Review Questions

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

2:54 PM

1 Andy wishes to measure the IV characteristic of a light bulb. He has set up a circuit as shown. In which of the positions,
shown M1M4, can he place:
a a voltmeter?

b an ammeter?

2 A student obtains a graph of the currentvoltage characteristics of a piece of resistance wire.

a What current flows in this wire at a voltage of 7.5 V?
b What voltage would be required to make a current of 20 A flow in this wire?
c What assumptions did you make in answering part b?
d What is the resistance of this wire
at 5 V,
and at 20 V?

3 A student finds that the current through a resistor is 3.5 A while a voltage of 2.5 V is applied to it.
a What is the resistance?
b The voltage is then doubled and the current is found to increase to 7.0 A. Is the resistor ohmic or not?

4 Rose and Rachel are trying to find the resistance of an electrical device. They find that at 5 V it draws a current of 200
mA and at 10 V it draws a current of 500 mA. Rose says that the resistance is 25 , but Rachel maintains that it is 20 .
Who is right and why?
5 Nick has an ohmic resistor to which he has applied 5 V. He measures the current at 45 mA. He then increases the voltage
to 8 V. What current will he find now?
6 Lisa finds that when she increases the voltage across an ohmic resistor from 6 V to 10 V the current increases by 2 A.
a What is the resistance of this resistor?
b What current does it draw at 10 V?

7 The resistance of a certain piece of wire is found to be 0.8 . What would be the resistance of:

a a piece of the same wire twice as long?

b a piece of wire of twice the diameter?

Section 2.1 Page 6

8 A strange electrical device has the IV characteristic shown.

a Is it an ohmic or non-ohmic device? Explain.
b What current is drawn when a voltage of 10 V is applied to it?

c What voltage would be required to double the current drawn at 10 V?

d What is the resistance of the device at:

i 10 V?
ii 20 V?

9 Two students have measured the IV characteristics of two electrical resistors and have found them to be straight lines
with different slopes. Elsa says that the one with the steeper slope has a greater resistance, but Cathryn says the one with
the lower slope has the greater resistance. Who is right and why?

10 In Worked example 2.4C the resistance of a piece of copper wire 1.8 mm in diameter and 10 m long was found to be
0.068 .

a What would be the resistance of a piece of aluminium wire of the same dimensions? (The resistivity of copper is 1.7 x 10
^8 m, aluminium is 2.8 x 10^8 m.)
b What voltage drop would occur along the aluminium wire if 10 A were flowing in it?

Section 2.1 Page 7

2.5 Review Questions

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

2:55 PM

Questions
1 A 4.5 V battery is used to power the motor of a toy car.

a How much energy (in joules) is given to each coulomb of charge that flows through the battery?
b How much electrical potential energy is released in the motor by each coulomb of charge that
flows through it?
c Will all of the electrical potential energy released in the motor appear as kinetic energy of the car?
Explain.

2 How much energy does one electron receive when it travels through a 1.5 V cell?
3 What is the power used by a:
a 3 V torch bulb drawing 0.2 A?
b car starter motor which takes 200 A from a 12 V battery?

c mains-powered (240 V) toaster rated at 3 A?

4 How much current is used by a:

a 60 W, 240 V light globe?
b 1200 W mains-powered heater?
c 90 W car windscreen wiper motor?
5 What is the voltage of a:
a 100 W spotlight which draws 4 A?

b 200 mW radio operating with a current of 23 mA?

Section 2.1 Page 8

b 200 mW radio operating with a current of 23 mA?

c 7500 W (10 HP) industrial motor using 18 A?
6 A large power station generator is rated as 500 MW with a 24 kV output. What current would it be
generating?
7 How much energy is used by a 5 W digital clock in 1 week? Answer in kW h as well as in joules. If
electric energy costs 15 cents per kW h, how much will it cost to run the clock for a year?
8 A step-down transformer is used to run a 12 V model railway from the 240 V mains. If the model
engine operates at a power of 18 W, and the transformer can be assumed to be 100% efficient, what
is:
a the current used by the engine?
b the input current to the transformer from the mains?
9 Briefly describe the difference between AC and DC electric power. Give examples of some sources
of each.
10 Why is electric power transmitted to cities at very high voltages?

Section 2.1 Page 9

Chapter 2 Review Questions

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

2:55 PM

Section 2.1 Page 10