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84 Terms

1
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The SI units for electrical PE are…

joules

2
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What are the accepted symbols for electric potential energy?

U

PE

3
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How would you increase the electrical potential energy of a pair of charged particles of the SAME sign?

decrease their separation

4
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How would you decrease the electrical potential energy of a pair of OPPOSITELY charged particles?

decrease their separation

5
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How would you decrease the electrical potential energy of a pair of charged particles of the SAME sign?

increase their separation

6
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How would you increase the electrical potential energy of a pair of OPPOSITELY charged particles?

increase their separation

7
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Equation for computing the electrical potential energy stored in a pair of charged particles

K\frac{q1q2}{r}

8
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Electric potential energy is a (scalar/vector) quantity

scalar

It may increase or decrease, but it has no compass direction.

9
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When charged particles are released and can move freely, their electric potential energy will be converted to…

kinetic energy

10
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Units for electric potential

volts

11
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Is electric potential a scalar or vector

scalar

12
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volts in terms of joules/coulombs

1 V = 1 J/C

13
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Electric fields point in the direction that ___ charges freely move when released.

positive

14
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Electric fields point towards locations of ___ potential.

lower

15
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Which way do positively charged particles freely move towards?

direction of lower potential

16
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Which way do negatively charged particles freely move towards?

direction of higher potential

17
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Locations of higher electric potential are _____ positively charged bodies than locations of lower potential

closer to

18
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What are equipotential surfaces?

locations of the same potential in an electric field

19
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Equipotential surfaces are ___ to electric field vectors

perpendicular

20
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If a location in an electric field has a potential of 10 V, it means that 1 coulomb of charge would ________ at this location

possess 10 J of potential energy

21
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Is potential constant in an uniform electric field?

no

potential changes as you move from one position to another. an electric field is a potential gradient.

22
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If a charged particle moves freely in an electric field, its PE…

decreases

23
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How does the capacitance of a capacitor increase?

  • increase area (make plates bigger)

  • decrease r (decrease separation of plates)

  • use more polar dielectric

24
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The places of capacitors are (insulators/conductors)

conductors

25
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Dielectric is a (insulator/conductor)

insulator

26
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What do capacitors do?

  • provide a quick burst of energy in automated external defibrillators

  • provide a quick burst of current in a computer keyboard

  • maintain a uniform electric field in air purifiers

27
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How would you increased the energy stored in a capacitor?

charge it with a higher voltage battery

28
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Units for capacitance

farads (F)

29
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Equation for finding sum of capacitors in series

\frac{1}{Ceq} = \frac{1}{C1} + \frac{1}{C2} + … \frac{1}{Cn}

30
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Equation for finding sum of capacitors in parallel

Ceq = C1 + C2 + … Cn

31
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Characteristics of equipotential surfaces/lines/contours

  • perpendicular to electric field lines

  • areas where electric potential is the same, regardless of object’s charge

  • concentric spheres around a single source charge

  • equipotential contours can never meet or cross

  • contours are closer = more electric potential energy

32
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test charges seek (higher/lower) energy states

lower

(think of a ball rolling down an incline)

33
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The electric potential energy of interaction of two charged objects is defined to be zero when the distance between them is ____

infinitely far away

34
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If two objects have the same sign charges, their electric potential energy is (positive/negative)

positive

35
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If two objects have opposite charges, their electric potential energy is (positive/negative)

negative

36
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If two oppositely charged objects move closer together, their electric potential bar will (increase/decrease) in size

increase

37
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if the Ue between two equal charges quadruples, what happens to the distance between the particles?

distance decreases by a factor of 4 → 1/4

38
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When is the equation ∆Ue = -qEdcosθ used?

when a charge, q, moves freely in an electric field

39
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Electric potential definition

the electric potential at a point is defined as the amount of electric potential energy a positive test charge would have if placed there, the energy per unit charge

40
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Equation for electric potential, V

V = Uq/q

41
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How to calculate electric potential of multiple point charges?

add the V values together

42
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Compare electric potential and electric field

electric field is force per charge

electric potential is energy per charge

43
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Potential difference (∆V)

voltage, the difference between the electric potential a the final location minus the electric potential at the initial location

∆V = Vf-Vi

44
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What does a negative ∆V signify?

decrease in V (high → low)

45
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What does a positive ∆V signify?

increase in V (low → high)

46
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Describe the force on a charged particle placed anywhere in an uniform field

the force is constant everywhere

47
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What is the equation ∆V = -Edcosθ used for?

the charge of 1 Coulomb of charge experiences when it is displaced a distance “d“ in a uniform electric field. θ is the angle between the E-field and the displacement of charge.

The minus sign indicates E pointing in the direction of decreasing potential

at 0°, E and d are in the same direction

48
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Will the electric field inside the dielectric be zero?

No.

(The electric charges do not flow through the dielectric as they do in a conductor (dielectrics are insulators). The electric field can be reduced, but cannot be minimized to zero. In addition, the dielectric constant k cannot be zero since it is a measure of a material’s ability to store electric energy in an electric field.)

49
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How is k, the dielectric constant, related to E?

as k increases, E (net E-field) weakens

50
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What is capacitance?

how much charge accumulates on 1 plate per volt applied across the plates

C = Q/V

51
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___ plates are the most common type of capacitor

parallel

52
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what is ε

8.85 × 10^-12 F/m

permittivity of free space

53
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for parallel capacitors, what occurs when the dielectric is inserted into the capacitor?

capacitance increases

54
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What happens to the charge on a parallel plate capacitor is the potential difference doubles?

capacitance stays the same, Q doubles

55
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Do uncharged parallel plates still have a capacitance?

yes

56
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Why is Ue for a capacitor referred to as stored energy?

energy is stored in the electric field between the capacitor’s plates. as the capacitor is being charged, the electric field builds up.

57
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Which quantities (Q, C, or Ue) change when using a higher voltage power supply to charge a capacitor?

Q, Ue

58
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A parallel plate capacitor is charged and then disconnected from a battery. how does the stored energy change when the plate separation is doubled?

Q and V stay the same. Energy doubles

59
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why is it dangerous to touch the terminals of a high-voltage capacitance even after the potential difference has been removed?

because capacitors still hold charge

60
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What does discharging do?

make the capacitor safe to handle after potential difference has been removed.

61
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Why do two metal plates near each other not become charged until connected to a source of potential difference?

Both plates start neutral. If there is no potential difference, there is no electric force to set charges into uniform motion. By providing voltage, there is a potential difference, allowing for motion.

62
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What does the area under the curve of a current vs. time graph represent?

total charge placed on capacitor

63
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How are capacitors charged?

electrons flow from negative terminal of battery to empty capacitor plate → repel electrons from other plate → repelled electrons flow back to battery

64
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Describe a graph that depicts charge vs. time as a capacitor is being charged

Starts at zero, increases, slows down until it reaches potential difference (looks like a log. graph)

65
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Describe a graph that depicts potential (v) vs. time as a capacitor is being charged

Starts at zero, increases, slows down until it reaches potential difference (looks like a log. function)

66
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Describe a graph that depicts current vs. time as a capacitor is being charged

really high, decreases as potential get closer to battery’s potential (looks like exponential decay function)

67
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Describe a graph that depicts current vs. time as a capacitor is being discharged

really high → decreases to zero point when it is fully discharged so there is no more current (looks like exponential decay function)

68
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Describe a graph that depicts charge vs. time as a capacitor is being discharged

rate of decrease proportional to current (starts high → decreases)

69
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Describe a graph that depicts potential (v) vs. time as a capacitor is being discharged

rate of decrease proportional to current (starts high → decreases)

70
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Would capacitors connected in parallel or in series have a greater time constant (time it takes to discharge a capacitor)?

capacitors in parallel

(t = RC, R = resistance. you want a higher C)

71
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Characteristics of Q and V for capacitors in series

Q is equal

V is split

72
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Characteristics of Q and V for capacitors in parallel

V’s are equal

Q is split

73
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What could you change in a circuit to increase the charge stored in a capacitor?

increase potential difference

remove all the other capacitors

74
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What happens to the resistor over time when the switch is closed?

the current starts high → slowly becomes lover → zero

75
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What happens to the potential difference across a resistor when the switch is open and after the switch is closed?

voltage starts high → plummets quickly → zero

76
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What happens to the potential difference across a capacitor when the switch is open and after the switch is closed?

voltage starts low → rises gradually

77
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What does a capacitor act as when fully charged?

an open switch

78
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What is steady state?

everything in equilibrium, capacitor is fully charged

79
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What factors affect the amount of time required for the circuit to reach steady state?

capacitance, resistance

increasing capacitance → amount of charge increases → takes longer to reach steady state

80
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What happens qualitatively if the switch was opened after the switch had reached steady state?

nothing happens because it is in equilibrium

81
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What quantities at steady state would be different if ∆V across the battery was increased?

charge, current, time needed to reach steady state, ∆V

82
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What quantities at steady state would be different if the resistance of the resistor was increased?

current, time (increases)

(∆V does not change, therefore Q does not change)

83
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Current takes the path of ___ resistance

least

(will typically go through capacitors first → capacitors are fully charged → go through resistors)

84
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How to calculate current

I = ∆V/R