Transcript Slide 1
Today’s agenda:
Electric potential energy (continued).
You must be able to use electric potential energy in work-energy calculations.
Electric potential.
You must be able to calculate the electric potential for a point charge, and use the electric
potential in work-energy calculations.
Electric potential and electric potential energy of a system of
charges.
You must be able to calculate both electric potential and electric potential energy for a
system of charged particles (point charges today, charge distributions next lecture).
The electron volt.
You must be able to use the electron volt as an alternative unit of energy.
Remember conservation of energy from Physics 23?
An object of mass m in a gravitational field has potential
energy U(y) = mgy and “feels” a gravitational force FG =
GmM/r2, attractive.
y
If released, it gains kinetic
energy and loses potential
energy, but mechanical energy
is conserved: Ef=Ei. The
change in potential energy is
Uf - Ui = -(Wc)if. The gravitational force does + work.
Ui = mgyi
yi
x
Uf = 0
What force does Wc? Force due to gravity.
graphic “borrowed” from http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/newtongrav.html
A charged particle in an electric
field has electric potential
energy.
++++++++++++++
It “feels” a force (as given by
Coulomb’s law).
It gains kinetic energy and loses
potential energy if released. The
Coulomb force does positive
work, and mechanical energy is
conserved.
+
E
F
-------------------
Now your deep philosophical question for the day…
If you have a great big nail to drive, are you going
to pound it with a dinky little screwdriver?
Or a
hammer?
Ef Ei Wother if
“The hammer equation.”—©Prof. R. J. Bieniek
Here is another important Physics 23 Starting Equation, which
you may need for tomorrow’s homework…
The Work-Energy Theorem:
Wnet if K
Wnet is the total work, and includes work done by the
conservative force (if any) and all other forces (if any).
Notation: Wab = Wa-Wb = [W]ba
Example: two isolated protons are constrained to be a distance
D = 2x10-10 meters apart (a typical atom-atom distance in a
solid). If the protons are released from rest, what maximum
speed do they achieve, and how far apart are they when they
reach this maximum speed?
2.63x10 m/s
4
To be worked at the blackboard in lecture…
2.63x104 m/s
Example: two isolated protons are constrained to be a distance
D = 2x10-10 meters apart (a typical atom-atom distance in a
solid). If the protons are released from rest, what maximum
speed do they achieve, and how far apart are they when they
reach this maximum speed?
2.63x10 m/s
4
We need to do some thinking first.
What is the proton’s potential energy when they reach their
maximum speed?
How far apart are the protons when they reach their maximum
speed?
Example: two isolated protons are constrained to be a distance
D = 2x10-10 meters apart (a typical atom-atom distance in a
solid). If the protons are released from rest, what maximum
speed do they achieve, and how far apart are they when they
reach this maximum speed?
2.63x10 m/s
4
v=0 +e
Initial
v
+e
+e v=0
ri=2x10-10 m
Final
rf=
+e
v
There is an unasked conservation of momentum problem buried
in here, isn’t there!
v=0 +e
Initial
v
+e v=0
ri=2x10-10 m
Final
+e
+e
rf=
Ef Ei Wother if
0
0
0
Kf Uf Ki Ui Wother if
K f Ui
v
v=0 +e
Initial
v
+e
+e v=0
ri=2x10-10 m
Final
rf=
+e
v
K f Ui
How many objects are moving in the final state? Two.
How many Kf terms are there?
Two.
How many pairs of charged particles in the initial state? One.
How many Ui terms are there?
One.
v=0 +e
Initial
v
+e v=0
ri=2x10-10 m
Final
+e
+e
rf=
K f Ui
e e
1
2
2 m p v k
ri
2
v
2
ke
m p ri
9 10 1.6 10
1.6710 2 10
-19 2
9
- 27
-10
m
2.6310
s
4
Is that fast, or slow?
v
Another way to calculate electrical potential energy.
UE UEf UEi WE if
WE if FE d
rf
rf
ri
ri
k q1q 2
dr
2
r12
The subscript “E” is to
remind you I am talking
about electric potential
energy. After this slide, I
will drop the subscript “E.”
Move one of charges from
ri to rf, in the presence the
other charge.
The minus sign in this equation comes from the definition of change in potential energy. The sign from the dot product is
“automatically” correct if you include the signs of q and q0.
U E q1
rf
ri
rf
f
kq 2
dr q1 E 2dr q1 E 2 d
2
ri
i
r12
Move q1 from ri to rf, in
the presence of q2.
A justification, but not a mathematically “legal” derivation.
Generalizing:
f
Uf Ui q E d
i
When a charge q is moved from one position to another in the presence of
an electric field due to one or more other charged particles, its change in
potential energy is given by the above equation.
I’ve done something important here. I’ve generalized from the
specific case of one charged particle moving in the presence of
another, to a charged particle moving in the electric field due to
all the other charged particles in its “universe.”
“i” and “f” refer to the two points for which we are calculating the potential energy difference. You could also
use “a” and “b” like your text does, or “0” and “1” or anything else convenient. I use “i” and “f” because I
always remember that (anything) = (anything)f – (anything)i.
So far in today’s lecture…
I reminded you of some energy concepts from Physics 23:
U Uf Ui Wconservative if
definition of potential energy
Wexternal if Wconservative if
true if kinetic energy is constant
Ef Ei Wother if
Wnet if K
everybody’s favorite Phys. 23
equation
work-energy theorem
You mastered all of the above equations in Physics 23.
So far in today’s lecture…
Then I “derived” an equation for the electrical potential
energy of two point charges
q1q 2
1 q1q 2
U r12 k
.
r12
40 r12
I also derived an equation (which we haven’t used yet) for
the change in electrical potential energy of a point charge
that moves in the presence of an electric field
f
Uf Ui q E d
i
Above is today’s stuff. So far. Lots of lecturing for only two equations.