An electron enters the region of a uniform electric field between two oppositely
charged parallel plates as shown, with an initial velocity of 3 x 106 m/s. The
electric field between the plates is measured to be E = 200N/C. The horizontal
length of the plates is 10cm.
a. Find the acceleration of the electron while it is in the electric field.
( and if the electron is negativly charged, but we don't know what type it is)
To find the acceleration of the electron while it is in the electric field, we can use the formula for the electric force experienced by a charged particle:
F = q * E
where F is the electric force, q is the charge of the electron, and E is the electric field strength.
Since we are given that the electron is negatively charged and we know the charge of an electron is -1.6 x 10^-19 C, we can substitute the value of q into the equation:
F = (-1.6 x 10^-19 C) * (200 N/C)
Now we can solve for the force:
F = -3.2 x 10^-17 N
Since we know that force equals mass multiplied by acceleration (F = m * a), we can rearrange the equation to solve for acceleration:
a = F / m
The mass of an electron is approximately 9.1 x 10^-31 kg.
Substituting the values into the equation, we can calculate the acceleration:
a = (-3.2 x 10^-17 N) / (9.1 x 10^-31 kg)
a ≈ -3.5 x 10^13 m/s^2
So, the acceleration of the electron while it is in the electric field is approximately -3.5 x 10^13 m/s^2.