Electrostatics

CLASS:12th
SUBJECT: PHYSICS

1. Which are the two kinds of charges?

2. State the principle of conservation of charge.
3. State the principle of quantization of charge.
4. What does q1+q2 = 0 signify in electrostatics?
5. State Coulomb’s law of electrostatics. Define unit charge from Coulomb’s law.
6. Define relative permittivity of a medium.
7. Define dielectric constant of a medium. State the principle of superposition of electrostatic
forces.
8. Draw and compare the variation of electric field and electric potential due to a point charge as
a function of distance from the charge.
9. Define linear density of charge.
10. What do you mean by annihilation of matter?
11. No two equipotential surfaces ever intersect each other. Justify.
12. Is the principle of conservation of charge violated in electron- positron annihilation?
13. Quarks are the building blocks of nucleons and possess fractional electronics charge. Does
this discovery violate the principle of quantization of charge?
14. Why the special tyres of aircrafts are made slightly conducting though ordinary tyres are
insulators?
15. Why vehicles carrying inflammable materials are earthed before transferring the fuels or other
inflammable materials to or from the vehicle?
16. State Coulomb’s law of electrostatics and express it in vector form.
17. Explain the origin of frictional electricity on the basis of atomic structure.
18. Write the differences between mass and charge.
19. Calculate the point between a proton and a helium nucleus kept 1 mm apart where a third
proton will remain in equilibrium. Is the equilibrium stable or unstable?
20. Derive an expression for the electric field at a point on the equatorial position of an electric
dipole.
21. Derive an expression for the energy stored in a capacitor. Deduce a relation for energy density
of the energy stored in a parallel plate capacitor.
22. Show that whenever two capacitors share charges by bringing them into electrical contact,
there is a loss of energy.
23. Derive an expression for the effective capacitance when capacitors are connected in (a) series
and (b) parallel
24. Explain the principle of charging a capacitor and derive an expression for the capacitance of a
parallel plate capacitor.
25. Show that the work done in an electric field is independent of path.
26. State Gauss theorem and apply it to find the electric field at a point due to a line of charge (b)
27. Apply Gauss theorem to prove that the intensity of electric field due to a plane sheet of charge
is independent of the distance from the sheet of charge.
28. Derive an expression for the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor when the space between
the plates of the capacitor is partially filled with a dielectric of dielectric constant K.
29. Calculate the capacitance of a capacitor as shown in the figure, where k1, k2 and k3 are
dielectric constants.

A/2 A/2

A
K2 d/2
K1
K3 d/2
B

30. Determine the variation of electric field intensity due to a charged spherical conducting shell
on an inner and outer point. Sketch the variation of Electric field with distance.
31. State Gauss’ Theorem of electrostatics. Derive Coulomb’s law using Gauss theorem.
32. Show that in Uniform electric field an electric dipole experiences no net force. Hence derive
an expression for the torque on an electric dipole in a uniform electric field.
33. Draw equipotential surfaces for (i) an electric dipole (ii) A constant electric field in Z
direction (iii) a field that increases uniformly in magnitude in Z-direction.
34. Prove that the electric field at a point is the negative gradient of the electric potential at that
point. Using this result show that the electric potential at a point is not necessarily zero even if
the electric field at that point is zero.
35. Derive an expression for the energy stored (Potential Energy) in a dipole in a uniform electric
field. Hence determine the work done in rotating the dipole from unstable equilibrium
position to stable equilibrium position.
36. Four point charges +5 mC, +2 mC, +10mC and +2 mC are kept at the corners of a
square of side 10 cm. A charge q=+1mC is placed at its centre. Find the net force on q.
37. Two point charges are 0.1 m apart and their combined charge is 9 mC. If they repel each
other with a force 18N, then calculate the magnitude of each charge.
38. A proton moves through a uniform electric field of 5.01 x 103 N/C. Calculate (a) the
acceleration with which the proton is moving and (b) the time taken by the proton to
cover a distance of 4.8 cm.
39. How many electrons would have to be removed from or added to a penny to leave it
charged with 1.0 x 10-6 C?
40. An electrically neutral coin of mass m = 3.0 g contains equal amount of positive and
negative charge. Assuming the coin is made up of pure copper, what is the magnitude of
the total positive (or negative) charge on the coin. Molar mass of copper = 63.5 g mol-1
41. A point charge 10µC is at a distance of 5 cm from a square of side 10 cm as shown in
the figure. What is the magnitude of flux through the square?
5 cm

10cm
42. A pith ball A of mass 9 x 10-5 kg carries a charge of 5mC. What must be the magnitude
and sign of the charge on another identical pith ball B held 2 cm directly above the pith
ball A so that the pith ball remains stationary?
43. A charge particle of magnitude Q is placed at (i) Corner of a cube, (ii) face center of a
cube (iii) edge center of a cube. Determine the Electric flux diverging out of the cube in
each case.
44. A spherical Gaussian Surface enclosed a charge of 17.7 × 10-8C, (i) Calculate the flux
through the sphere. If the radius of the sphere is halved, what will be the electric flux?
45. A 600 pF capacitor is charged by 200v supply. It is then disconnected and is connected
to another 300 Pf uncharged capacitor. What is their common potential? Determine the
energy loss in the process.
46. Two identical charges repel each other with force of 0·1 N when placed 0.5 m apart in
air (a) Find the value of charges (b) Determine the magnitude of the charges if they were
placed in a liquid whose permittivity is ten times that of the vacuum.
47. Two equally charged identical spheres P and Q repel each other with a force of
2 x 10-5 N. Another identical uncharged sphere R is touched to P, then placed at the
midpoint between P and Q. Find net force on R.
48. Four charges + 4 mC, + 5 mC, + 4 mC and + 5 mC are placed at the corners A, B, C
and D of a square of side 10 cm. Calculate the force on a charge of + 1 mC placed at the
centre of the square.
49. Calculate the magnitude and direction of force on unit positive charge at the centre of a
square of each side 2 m, when three charges of +8 mC each are placed at the three
corners of the square.
50. Two identical balls each carrying a charge Q are suspended from a common point by
two strings of equal length l. Calculate the mass of each ball if the angle between “the
strings is 2𝜃 in equilibrium.
51. A proton (mass m, charge +e) and an alpha particle (mass 4m, charge +2e) approach one
another with the same initial speed v from an initially large distance. How close will
these two particles get to one another before turning around?
52. Two identical parallel plate capacitors A and B are connected to a battery of V volts
with the switch S closed as shown in the figure. The switch is now opened and the space
between the capacitors is filled with a dielectric of dielectric constant K. Find the ratio
of total energy stored before and after the introduction of the dielectric.
S

V
A B
BB
BB