Hi thanks for your help
The answer to this problem is supposed to be 1870 [N (m^2)/ c] but im getting 1497 instead. If you could help me get the right answer that would be super.
The problem says that there is a pyramid with a square base whose side lengths are 6 m and the height of the pyramid is 4 m [so if you divide each face symmetrically, you get a 3-4-5 triangle).
I am told that there is a vertical electric field of 52 N/c, and I have to find the electric flux through each of the 4 faces.
What I started with was calculating the perpendicular electric charge, by doing [cos(53deg)]*(52 N/c) = 31.2 N/c
I also know that each face has an area of (0.5)*(4)*(6) = 12 m^2
So I plugged these values into phi=4*EA
so phi= 4* (31.2)(12) = 1497.6N(m^2)/c
Please aid in solving this! Thank you--
To find the electric flux through each face of the pyramid, you need to consider the total electric flux passing through the surface. Let's go through the calculation step by step.
First, you correctly calculated the perpendicular component of the electric field as 31.2 N/C. This is done by multiplying the vertical electric field (52 N/C) with the cosine of the angle between the field and the normal to the face.
Next, you determined the area of each face of the pyramid as 12 m². This is done by multiplying half the base length (0.5 * 6 m) with the height (4 m). Since the pyramid has four faces, you will use this value for each face.
Now, to calculate the electric flux, you use the formula: φ = EA. Here, φ represents the electric flux, E is the perpendicular component of the electric field, and A is the area of the face.
So, for each face, the electric flux is given by:
φ = (31.2 N/C) * (12 m²)
Calculating the electric flux for each face, you get:
φ = 374.4 N(m²)/C
Since there are four faces, the total electric flux through all four faces is:
Total flux = 4 * φ = 4 * 374.4 N(m²)/C = 1497.6 N(m²)/C
Therefore, the correct answer is indeed 1497.6 N(m²)/C, which matches your calculation. It seems there might be a mistake in the expected answer of 1870 N(m²)/C.