PHY 032: PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS
Module #19 Student Activity Sheet
Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______
Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________
Lesson title: Electric Potential Materials:
Lesson Objectives Calculator, Paper, and pen
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
References:
1. Calculate the potential difference on point charges. College Physics by Giambatista,
2. Calculate the work done on moving point charges.. Richardson, Richardson.
Physics for Scientist and
Engineers with Modern Physics
by Serwey, Jewett.
College Physics by Weber,
Manning, White, Weygand
[Link]
c-potential
You have heard about volts because of your electrical devices
at home and office are all rated 240 volts. Your laptop and
smartphone charger plug will operate at either 120 volts or
240 volts. But what exactly is volt?
A. LESSON PREVIEW/REVIEW
1) Introduction (2 mins)
When a body is grounded as shown in the figure
Flow of electrons and there is a flow of electrons from the body to
the ground, the body is at a negative potential
with respect to the ground. Similarly, if the flow of
electrons is from the ground to the body, the body
is at a positive potential with respect to the
ground.
Fig. A body at a negative
Ground
potential
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PHY 032: PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS
Module #19 Student Activity Sheet
Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______
Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________
2) Activity 1: What I Know Chart, part 1 (3 mins)
What I Know Questions: What I Learned (Activity 4)
1 What is an electric potential?
2 Why should you ground electrical
system at home?
3 What is work done in a point
charge by moving it?
B. MAIN LESSON
1) Activity 2: Content Notes (13 mins)
Electric Potential
The electric potential (𝑉) of a body is numerically equal to the amount of work done by an external
agent to bring a unit positive charge from a point of zero potential to the body.
𝑊
𝑉=
𝑞
where 𝑉 is the potential of the body in volt and 𝑊 is the work in joule needed to transfer a charge of 𝑞
coulombs from the earth, or from any other point at zero potential, to the body.
Units
The unit of potential difference in the MKS system is the volt. One volt is defined as the potential
difference between points in an electric field such that one joule of work must be done to move a charge
of one coulomb between the points considered.
In the CGS system the unit of potential difference is the statvolt. One statvolt is the potential
difference between points in an electric field when an energy of one erg must be done to move a charge
of one statcoulomb between the points considered
1 𝐽 = 107 𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑠
1 𝐶 = 3 𝑥 109 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝐶
𝐽
1 =1𝑉
𝐶
1 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑉 = 300 𝑉
Electric Potential Near an Isolated Point Charge
𝑞
𝑉=𝑘
𝑟
This document is the property of PHINMA EDUCATION 2
PHY 032: PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS
Module #19 Student Activity Sheet
Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______
Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________
Example Problems
1. A Van de Graaf generator accelerates electrons so that they have energies equivalent to that
attained by falling through a potential difference of 150 𝑀𝑉. What is the energy of an electron
that has been accelerated in this machine?
Given: Solution:
𝑉 = 150 𝑀𝑉 = 150 𝑥 106 𝑉 𝑊 = 𝑉𝑞𝑒
𝑞𝑒 = 1.602 𝑥 10−19 𝐶 𝑊 = (150 𝑥 106 )(1.602 𝑥 10−19 )
𝑊 = 𝟐. 𝟒𝟎𝟑 𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟏 𝑱
Find: 𝑊
2. A spherical shell on the top of a small electrostatic generator in air has a charge of 2.0 µC.
What is the potential at a point 10 cm from the center of the sphere?
Given: Solution:
𝑞
𝑞 = 2.0 𝑥 10−6 𝐶 𝑉=𝑘
𝑟
𝑟 = 0.10 𝑚 2.0 𝑥 10−6
𝑁 ∙ 𝑚2 𝑉 = (9.0 𝑥 109 )
𝑘 = 9.0 𝑥 109 0.10
𝐶2
𝑉 = 𝟏𝟖𝟎, 𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝑽
Find: 𝑉
3. A charge A of 8.0 x 10-6 C and charge B of -2.0 x 10-6 C are 1 m apart (see figure). What is
the potential at point C located at the midpoint between A and B? What is the potential at point
D located 0.8 m from A and 0.20 m from B? How much work would be required to move a
charge of 0.030 x 10-6 C from D to C?
Given:
8.0 𝑥 10−6 𝐶 −2.0 𝑥 10−6 𝐶
C D
A B
C
0.5 m 0.3 m 0.2 m
1m
Find: 𝑉𝐶 , 𝑉𝐷 , 𝑊
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PHY 032: PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS
Module #19 Student Activity Sheet
Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______
Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________
Solution:
𝑞 𝑞𝐴 𝑞𝐵
𝑉 = 𝑘 = 𝑘൬ + ൰
𝑟 𝑟𝐴𝐶 𝑟𝐶𝐵
𝑞𝐴 𝑞𝐵 8𝑥10−6 −2.0𝑥10−6
𝑉𝐶 = 𝑘 ൬ + ൰ = 9.0𝑥109 ቆ + ቇ = 𝟏𝟎𝟖𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝑽
𝑟𝐴𝐶 𝑟𝐶𝐵 0.5 0.5
𝑞𝐴 𝑞𝐵 8𝑥10−6 −2.0𝑥10−6
𝑉𝐷 = 𝑘 ൬ + ൰ = 9.0𝑥109 ቆ + ቇ=𝟎
𝑟𝐴𝐷 𝑟𝐷𝐵 0.8 0.2
𝑊𝐷𝐶 = 𝑞(𝑉𝐶 − 𝑉𝐷 )
𝑊𝐷𝐶 = 0.03𝑥10−6 (108000 − 0) = 𝟑. 𝟐𝟒𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟑 𝑱
2) Activity 3: Skill-building Activities (with answer key) (18 mins + 2 mins checking)
Exercise Problems
Solve the following problems. Use a short bond paper with 1” by 1” border. Avoid erasures.
1. The potential difference between two points in an electric field is 8.0 V. How much work must
be done to move a charge of 400 x 10-6 C between these points?
2. Two similar charges of 250 statC are situated on small spheres 15 cm apart. What is the
electric field intensity midway between the spheres? What is the potential at this point?
3. Calculate the work required to bring a charge of 5.0 statC from a point 24 cm from a charge
of 60 statC to a point 3 cm from it.
4. Two point charges, +0.04 µC and +6.16 µC, are 20 cm apart in air. Calculate the potential
energy and the work required to bring them to a distance of 10 cm from each other.
3) Activity 4: What I Know Chart, part 2 (2 mins)
Complete column 3: (What I Learned) of the table in activity 1 based on the content notes from activity
2. Use your own words. Never copy any terms used in the content notes. Preferably, complete the table
without looking at the concept notes.
4) Activity 5: Check for Understanding (5 mins)
Student Engagement (SE) Effective Questioning
Explain the purpose of the chains dangling from
the rear of gasoline trucks.
5) Activity 6: Assessment for Student Learning
This document is the property of PHINMA EDUCATION 4
PHY 032: PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS
Module #19 Student Activity Sheet
Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______
Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________
Classroom Assessment Technique (CAT) 3-2-1
Three things you learned:
1.
2.
3.
Two things that you would like to learn more about:
1.
2.
One question you still have:
1.
C. LESSON WRAP-UP
1) Activity 6: Thinking about Learning (5 mins)
KEY TO CORRECTIONS
Solution to Exercises
1. Given:
𝑉 =8𝑉 𝒲 = (400 𝑥 10−6 )(8)
𝑞 = 400 𝑥10−6 𝐶
𝒲 = 𝟑. 𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 𝑱
Find: 𝒲
Solution:
𝒲 = 𝑞𝑉
2. Given: 15 𝑐𝑚
𝑞1 = 250 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝐶 𝑞2 = 250 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝐶
𝑞1 = 250 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝐶
This document is the
𝑞2 = 250 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝐶property of PHINMA EDUCATION 5
𝑟 = 7.5 𝑐𝑚
𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒 ∙ 𝑐𝑚2
PHY 032: PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS
Module #19 Student Activity Sheet
Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______
Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________
3. Given:
𝑞1 = 5 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝐶 24 𝑐𝑚 𝑞2 = 60 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝐶
3 𝑐𝑚
Find: 𝒲
Solution:
𝒲 = ∆𝑈 = 𝑞∆𝑉 60 60
𝒲 = (1)(5) − ൨ = 𝟖𝟕. 𝟓 𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒔
𝑞 3 24
𝑉=𝑘
𝑟
4. Given:
𝑞1 = 0.04 𝑥 10−6 𝐶 𝑞2 = 6.16 𝑥 10−6 𝐶
0.2 𝑚
0.1 𝑚
Find: 𝒲, ∆𝑈
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PHY 032: PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS
Module #19 Student Activity Sheet
Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______
Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________
Solution:
𝒲 = 𝑞𝑉
𝑞1 𝑞2 (0.04 𝑥 10−6 )(6.16 𝑥 10−6 )
𝒲=𝑘 = (9 𝑥 109 ) = 𝟐. 𝟕𝟕𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟑 𝑱
𝑟 0.2
∆𝑈 = 𝑞∆𝑉
6.16 𝑥 10−6 6.16 𝑥 10−6
∆𝑈 = 𝑞∆𝑉 = (9 𝑥 109 )(0.04 𝑥 10−6 ) ቈ − = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟖𝟖 𝑱
0.1 0.2
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