PHY 204: Electricity and Magnetism Semester: Fall 2018

Additional Problems: Electricity and Magnetism

No Due Date

1. An oscillating LC circuit is designed to operate at a peak current of 31 mA. The

inductance of 42 mH is fixed and the frequency is varied by changing C.

(a) If the capacitor has a maximum peak voltage of 50 V, can the circuit safely
operate at a frequency of 1.0 MHz?

(b) What is the maximum safe operating frequency?

(c) What is the minimum capacitance?

2. In an oscillating series RLC circuit, find the time required for the maximum energy
present in the capacitor during an oscillation to fall to half its initial value. Assume
Q(t = 0) = q0 .

3. At what rate must the potential difference between the plates of a parallel-plate ca-
pacitor with a 2.0 mF capacitance be changed to produce a displacement current of
1.5 A?

4. The circuit in Figure consists of switch S, a 12.0 V ideal battery, a 20.0 MΩ resistor,
and an air-filled capacitor. The capacitor has parallel circular plates of radius 5.00
cm, separated by 3.00 mm. At time t = 0, switch S is closed to begin charging the
capacitor. The electric field between the plates is uniform. At t = 250 ms, what is the
magnitude of the magnetic field within the capacitor, at radial distance 3.00 cm?

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PHY 204: Electricity and Magnetism Semester: Fall 2018

5. An electron is initially at rest. At time t1 = 0 it is accelerated upward with an

acceleration of 1 × 1018 m/s2 for a very short time (this large acceleration is possible
because the electron has a very small mass). We make observations at location A, 15
m from the electron (see Figure).

(a) At time t2 = 1 ns (1 × 109 s), what are the magnitude and direction of the electric
field at location A due to the electron?

(b) At what time t3 does the electric field at location A change?

(c) What is the direction of the radiative electric field at location A at time t3 ?

(d) What is the magnitude of this electric field? How does it compare to the magni-
tude of the field at location A at time t2 ?

(e) Just after time t3 , what is the direction of the magnetic force on a positive charge
that was initially at rest at location A? Explain with a diagram.

6. An electromagnetic wave of wavelength 435 nm is traveling in vacuum in the −z

direction. The electric field has amplitude 2.7 × 10−3 V/m and is parallel to the x-
axis. What are (a) the frequency and (b) the magnetic-field amplitude? (c) Write the
~
vector expressions for E(t) ~
and B(t).

7. A small spaceship with a mass of only 1.5 × 103 kg (including an astronaut) is drifting
in outer space with negligible gravitational forces acting on it. If the astronaut turns
on a 10 kW laser beam, what speed will the ship attain in 1.0 day because of the
momentum carried away by the beam? (The momentum of electromagnetic wave is
given by the energy divided by c, the speed of light). Use the usual relations of force
and momentum from Mechanics to solve the porblem.

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PHY 204: Electricity and Magnetism Semester: Fall 2018

8. An intense light source radiates uniformly in all directions. At a distance of 5.0 m from
the source, the radiation pressure on a perfectly absorbing surface is 9.0 × 10−6 Pa
(Pa represent the unit of pressure Pascal = Joule per meter squared). What is the
total average power output of the source? Radiation pressure is the force per unit area
exerted by an electromagnetic wave on a surface on which it is incident.