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Home Minds On Static Electricity Mission SE11 Electric Field Equation Help Help 5

Mission SE11 Electric Field Equation

The Question

A charge Q creates an electric field; a test charge q is placed at various labeled locations from the charge Q as shown in the diagram below. Rank the five locations in order of increasing electric field strength, beginning with the smallest. List the letters in increasing order with no commas or spaces between letters.

Formula Fix

The electric field strength (E) at a given location about a source charge is dependent upon the quantity of charge on the source charge (Q) and the distance that the location is from the source (d). The dependency between electric field strength, the quantity of charge on the source charge, and the distance from the source is expressed by the equation
E = k • Q / d2

Think About It

The electric field strength (E) at a given location about a source is inversely related to the distance of that location from the source (d). See Formula Frenzy section. An increase in the distance leads to a decrease in the electric field strength. So the electric field strength is weakest (smallest) when the distance is greatest. So the ranking of locations in increasing order of their electric field strength is the same as ranking the locations in decreasing order of their distance from the source.

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