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Learning Introductory Physics with Activities

Paul J. Emigh, Rebecka Tumblin, Kathryn Hadley, Danielle Skinner

Section 23.3 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?
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To determine the electric potential due to some charge distribution, we will use our Chop-Multiply-Add method!
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  1. Chop up the charged object into tiny pieces and find \(dq\) on each piece.
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  2. Multiply \(dq\) and other quantities to find \(dV\) due to that part of the charge.
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  3. Add together all the \(dV\)’s using an integral to get the net electric potential.
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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.
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Solution.
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