Chop-Multiply-Add: Calculating Electric Potential

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Section 9.16 Chop-Multiply-Add: Calculating Electric Potential

Exercises Warm-Up Activity

1.

Previously, you determined the electric field at the center of a uniformly charged semicircle with total charge $Q$ and radius $R\text{.}$ What strategy do you think would help you determine the electric potential at the center of this semicircle?

To determine the electric potential due to some charge distribution, we will use our Chop-Multiply-Add method!

Chop up the charged object into tiny pieces and find $dq$ on each piece.
Multiply $dq$ and other quantities to find $dV$ due to that part of the charge.
Add together all the $dV$’s using an integral to get the net electric potential.

Exercises Activities

1.

Go back to the uniformly charged semicircle with total charge $Q$ and radius $R\text{.}$ Using the Chop-Multiply-Add method, set up an integral to determine the electric potential at the center of the semicircle.

Solution.

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