PHYSICS ASSIGNMENT – CH:- ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL AND CAPACITANCE

DATE OF RELEASE:-21-04-2025 DATE OF SUBMISSION:- 30-04-2025

General instructions:
● Write the assignments in your Class Work Copy, divide the copy in two parts, first half is for
normal class work and second half is for assignment work.
● Submit the assignments by 30/04/2025(WEDNESDAY)
● Write in neat and clean proper handwriting.
● Writing the Questions are mandatory.
● 60-70% of the questions of Unit Test and Mid-term may be based on the assignment

1 (a) A comb run through one’s dry hair attracts small bits of paper. Why? What
happens if the hair is wet or if it is a rainy day? (Remember, a paper does not
conduct electricity.)
(b) Ordinary rubber is an insulator. But special rubber tyres of aircraft are made
slightly conducting. Why is this necessary?
(c) Vehicles carrying inflammable materials usually have metallic ropes touching the
ground during motion. Why?
(d) A bird perches on a bare high power line, and nothing happens to the bird. A man
standing on the ground touches the same line and gets a fatal shock. Why?
2 Derive the expression for the combination of capacitance in series and parallel
combination.
3 (i) Derive the expression for the electric potential due to an electric dipole at a point
on its axial line.
(ii) Depict the equipotential surface due to electric dipole.

4 Find the relation between field and potential.

5 Deduce the expression for potential energy of a system of charges.
6 Define an equipotential surface. Draw equipotential surfaces :
(i) in the case of a single point charge and (ii) in a constant electric field in z-
direction.
Why the equipotential surfaces about a single charge are not equidistant ?
(iii) Can electric field exist tangential to an equipotential surface ? Give reason.
7 Find the expression for the potential due to a system of charges.
8 Show with the help of diagram the equipotential surfaces for (a) a dipole, (b) two
identical positive charges.
9 A particle, having a charge +5 mC, is initially at rest at the point x = 30 cm on the x-
axis. The particle begins to move due to the presence of a charge Q that is kept fixed
at the origin. Find the kinetic energy of the particle at the instant it has moved 15 cm
from its initial position if (a) Q = +15 micro C and (b) Q = – 15 micro C
10 Two identical parallel plate capacitors A and B are connected to a battery of V volts
with the switch S closed. The switch is now opened and the free space between the
plates of the capacitors is filled with a dielectric of dielectric constant k. Find the ratio
of the total electrostatic energy stored in both capacitors before and after the
introduction of the dielectric.
11 A capacitor of unknown capacitance is connected across a battery of V volt. A
charge of 360 μC is stored in it. When the potential across the capacitor is reduced
by 120 V, the charge stored in the capacitor becomes 120 μC. Calculate V and the
unknown capacitance. What would have been the charge on the capacitor if the
voltage were increased by 120 V?
12 A parallel plate capacitor of capacitance C is charged to a potential V by a battery.
Without disconnecting the battery, the distance between the plates is tripled and a
dielectric medium of k = 10 is introduced between the plates of the capacitor. Explain
giving reasons, how will the following be affected :
(i) capacitance of the capacitor (ii) charge on the capacitor, and
(iii) energy density of the capacitor.
13 Four point charges Q, q, Q and q are placed at the corners of a square of side ‘a’.
Find the
(i) resultant electric force on a charge Q, and (ii) potential energy of this system.
14 (i) Obtain the expression for the potential due to a point charge.
(ii) Potential, due to an electric dipole (length 2a) varies as the ‘inverse square’ of the
distance of the ‘field point’ from the centre of the dipole for r > a.
15 Two point charges q and –q are located at points (0, 0, – a) and (0, 0, a)
respectively.
(i) Find the electrostatic potential at (0, 0, z) and (x, y, 0).
(ii) How much work is done in moving a small test charge from the point (5,0,0) to (–
7, 0, 0) along the x-axis ?
(iii) How would your answer change if the path of the test charge between the same
points is not along the x-axis but along any other random path ?
(iv) If the above point charges are now placed in the same positions in the uniform
external electric field E , what would be the potential energy of the charge system in
its orientation of unstable equilibrium ?Justify your answer in each case.
16 (i) Explain, using suitable diagrams, the difference in the behaviour of (a) conductor
and (b) dielectric in the presence of an external electric field. Define the terms
polarization of a dielectric and write its relation with susceptibility.
(ii) A thin metallic spherical shell of radius R carries a charge Q on its surface. A
point charge Q/2 is placed at its centre C and another charge +2Q is placed outside
the shell at a distance x from the centre. Find (a) the force on the charge at the
centre of shell and at the point A, (b) the electric flux through the shell.
17 (i) Define the capacitance of a capacitor. Obtain the expression for the capacitance
of a parallel plate capacitor in vacuum in terms of plate area A and separation d
between the plates.
(ii) A slab of material of dielectric constant k has the same area as the plates of a
parallel plate capacitor but has a thickness 2d/4 . Find the ratio of the capacitance
with dielectric inside it to its capacitance without the dielectric.
18 (i) Deduce the expression for the electrostatic energy stored in a capacitor of
capacitance ‘C’ and having charge ‘Q’.
(ii) How will the (a) energy stored and (b) the electric field inside the capacitor be
affected when it is completely filled with a dielectric material of dielectric constant ‘k’ ?
19 Eight identical spherical drops, each carrying a charge 1 nC are at a potential of 900
V each. All these drops combine together to form a single large drop. Calculate the
potential of this large drop.(Assume no wastage of any kind and take the capacitance
of a sphere of radius r as proportional to r).
20 A parallel plate capacitor, of capacitance 20 micro F, is connected to a 100 V,
supply. After sometime, the battery is disconnected, and the space, between the
plates of the capacitor is filled with a dielectric of dielectric constant 5. Calculate the
energy stored in the capacitor.
(i) Before(ii) After the dielectric has been put in between its plates.