Q.State Gauss's law. Derive an expression for electric field due to an infinite plane sheet of charge. OR Give the principle, construction and working of Van de Graff's generator.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Gauss's law relates the electric flux through a closed surface to the charge it encloses; applied to an infinite charged sheet it gives a field that does not fall off with distance.
Gauss's law
The total electric flux through any closed (Gaussian) surface equals times the net charge enclosed:
Field of an infinite plane sheet of charge
Let the sheet carry a uniform surface charge density . By symmetry must be perpendicular to the sheet, pointing away from it on both sides (for ), with equal magnitude at equal distances.
Take a cylindrical Gaussian pillbox of cross-sectional area whose axis is perpendicular to the sheet, with its two flat faces equidistant from the sheet, one on each side.
- Curved surface: is parallel to it, so flux .
- Each flat face: is normal to it, magnitude , so flux ; total over both faces .
Charge enclosed: .
By Gauss's law:
This field is uniform — it does not depend on the distance from the sheet.
OR — Van de Graaff generator
Principle: charge given to a hollow conductor always moves entirely to its outer surface, however much charge is already there — so a hollow conductor can be charged to a very high potential by repeated transfers.
Construction: a large hollow metal sphere on an insulating stand; an insulating belt runs over a lower pulley (near the ground) and an upper pulley (inside the sphere), driven by a motor. A spray comb at the lower pulley, connected to a high-voltage supply ( V), sprays positive charge onto the belt by corona discharge. A collecting comb near the upper pulley, connected to the sphere, removes this charge from the belt.
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