PHYS 102 – General Physics II Final Exam Solutions

Friday, 04 January 2019, 15:30

1. Consider the circuit in the figure with the capacitor initially uncharged and switch S closed at time t  0 .

(a) (12 Pts.) Find currents I R , I L and I C

𝑅 𝑅
right after the switch is closed (at time t  0
)? 𝑆
(b) (13 Pts.) Find the charge on the capacitor 𝐼𝑅
+
in the limit t   . 𝐿
𝑉 𝐼𝐶 𝐶
𝐼𝐿

Solution:

(a) Since the current through the inductor at time t  0 is zero, the equivalent circuit is:

𝑅 𝑅

𝑆
𝐼𝑅
+
V
Therefore, I R  I C  , IL  0 .
𝑉 𝐼𝐶 R
𝐶

(b) In the limit t   , the capacitor becomes fully charged and we have I C  0 . In this case the equivalent
circuit is:

𝑅 𝑅

𝑆
𝐼𝑅
+
𝐿 V
𝑉 Therefore, I R  I L  , IC  0 .
2R
𝐼𝐿

V V 1
Since VC  V   , and Q  CVC , final charge on the capacitor is Q  CV .
2 2 2
2. A particle with charge  q and mass m travels in a uniform
magnetic field B  B0 kˆ . At time t  0 , the particle’s velocity is
v 0 , and it lies in the xy plane directed at an angle of 30° with
respect to the y axis as shown. At a later time t  t the particle will
cross the x axis at x   . Determine in terms of q, m, v0 . and B0 :

(a) (15 Pts.)  ; and (b) (10 Pts.) t .

Solution:
(a) Since the velocity is perpendicular to the magnetic field,
the particle will follow a circular trajectory in the x-y plane of radius
r. The radius is found using the centripetal acceleration.

mv 2 mv
qvB   r
r qB

From the figure we see that the distance  is the chord distance, which is twice the distance r cos  Since
the velocity is perpendicular to the radial vector, the initial direction and the angle  are complementary
angles. The angles  and  are also complementary angles, so   30 .

2mv0 mv
  2r cos   cos30  3 0
qB0 qB0

(b) From the diagram, we see that the particle travels a circular path, that is 2 short of a complete

circle. Since the angles  and  are complementary angles, so   60 . The trajectory distance is equal to
the circumference of the circular path times the fraction of the complete circle. Dividing the distance by the
particle speed gives t.

2 r  360  2  60  2 mv0  2  4 m

t      .
v0 v0  360  v0 qB0  3  3qB0

3. A cylinder of length ℓ and radius r is tightly wound by a copper wire making N turns. Assume that the
wire is wound tightly (𝑁 ≫ 1) and the cylinder is narrow (ℓ ≫ 𝑟) so that the magnetic field outside the
solenoid is negligible. If the wire is carrying a current, I:

(a) (8 Pts.) find the magnetic field magnitude inside the solenoid;
(b) (9 Pts.) find the total energy stored by the magnetic field inside the solenoid;
(c) (8 Pts.) find the self-inductance of the solenoid.

a
Solution:
(a) We apply Ampère’s law to the path shown in the figure.
C

 Bd
c
  B  d   B  d   B  d   B  d  0 I enc ,
c1 c2 c3 c4

where c1, c 2, c3 and c 4 denote the four sides of the rectangle. The magnetic field outside the solenoid is
zero, while B  d  0 on the two vertical sides of the path C. Therefore, we have

N N
 Bd
c
 Ba  0 I a  B  0 I .

1 2 0 I 2 N 2
(b) Energy density of the magnetic field is uB  B  . Since EB  uBV , where V is the
2 0 2 2
volume inside the solenoid, we have

0 I 2 N 2 1 0 r 2 N 2 2
EB 
2 2  r 2  2
I .

 
(c) The flux of the magnetic field through a cross-section of the solenoid is  B  B  r 2  0 r 2
N
I.

N2
Since for N turns  N  N  B  0 r I , and  N  LI , we have
2

N2 N2
LI  0 r 2 I  L  0 r 2 .

1 2
We see that EB  LI .
2
4. In a circular region of space on the xy -plane there exists a uniform magnetic field which changes in time
according to the expression B  B0 (1  e  t / ) kˆ , where B0 and  are
constants. 𝑦
A
(a) (13 Pts.) Find the expression for the magnitude of the electric field at
point A of the figure. Draw the electric field vector at point A on the figure.
(b) (12 Pts.) Draw the Poynting vector at point B of the figure. What is its r 𝑥
magnitude? B

Solution:
(a) Magnetic flux through the circular region enclosed by the circle C of radius r is

 B  B( r 2 )   r 2 B0 (1  et / ) .

dB
Faraday’s law Eind   .
dt

1 B
Since Eind   Ed
C
 E (2 r ) , we have E (r ) (2 r )   r 2 B0e t /  E (r )  0 re t / .
 2

Magnetic flux is increasing, therefore, according to Lenz’s law, the electric field induced on the circle C is in

clockwise direction. 𝑦
A ሬ𝑬Ԧ

r 𝑥
1
(b) S  E  B . Electric and magnetic fields are perpendicular to each
0 ሬ𝑺Ԧ
B

other. Therefore

B02 r
S (1  et / )et / , direction being ˆj  kˆ  ˆi , i.e., inward at the point B.
20