You pick up a charge of one micro-Coulomb while walking over carpet, how many electrons were transferred? (Order of magnitude only)
TRUE OR FALSE:
If a third charge is released in the middle between the two positive charges, independent of the magnitude of the charges, it will remain at rest.
There is a position between the two positive charges where a third positive charge would remain at rest.
If a third negative charge is released at some position, it will accelerate toward the larger of the two positive ones.
and your thinking is...
I will be happy to critique your thinking.
I know that 1 micro-coulomb is 1*10^-6 coulombs and 1 electron has 1.60217646 * 10-19 coulombs. I'm not sure if you have to divide or multiply them? And don't you need the mass of the carpet to do it?
My answers on true/false;
False, it does depend on the magnitude of the charges.
True, there is an equilibrium point where all net charges are zero.
I thought the last one was true, but I'm not sure anymore. It seems like it's common sense, the larger the charge, the more attracted the negative charge would be towards it.
To determine the number of electrons transferred when picking up a charge of one micro-Coulomb, we need to know the elementary charge, which is the charge carried by one electron. The elementary charge is approximately 1.602 x 10^-19 Coulombs.
Since one micro-Coulomb is equal to 1 x 10^-6 Coulombs, we can use the ratio between the elementary charge and the charge picked up to calculate the number of electrons transferred.
Number of electrons transferred = (charge picked up) / (elementary charge)
Number of electrons transferred = (1 x 10^-6 C) / (1.602 x 10^-19 C)
Calculating the above expression gives us approximately 6.24 x 10^12 electrons. Hence, approximately 6.24 trillion electrons were transferred.
Now, let's move on to the true or false questions:
TRUE OR FALSE:
1. If a third charge is released in the middle between the two positive charges, independent of the magnitude of the charges, it will remain at rest.
This statement is FALSE. The behavior of the third charge will depend on the magnitude and sign of the charges. If the third charge is positive, it will experience a repulsive force from the two positive charges, causing it to move away or be repelled. If the third charge is negative, it will experience an attractive force towards the two positive charges, causing it to move towards or be attracted to them.
2. There is a position between the two positive charges where a third positive charge would remain at rest.
This statement is TRUE. If the two positive charges are identical in magnitude and are placed symmetrically with respect to the third charge, the forces of attraction from each positive charge will cancel each other out, resulting in a net force of zero on the third positive charge. Therefore, it will remain at rest in that specific position.
3. If a third negative charge is released at some position, it will accelerate toward the larger of the two positive ones.
This statement is TRUE. Negative charges are attracted to positive charges. Therefore, if a third negative charge is released near the two positive charges, it will experience an attractive force towards the larger positive charge. As a result, it will accelerate towards the larger positive charge.