Student handout: Work By An Electric Field (Contour Map)
Students will estimate the work done by a given electric field. They will connect the work done to the height of a plastic surface graph of the electric potential.
- group Small Group Activity 30 min. Quadrupole plastic surface, vector field map Student handout (PDF)
- Search for related topics
E&M Path integrals
What students learn
- Students practice doing a vector line integral of an electric field.
- Students match the electric field to a surface representing the potential and see that a positive line integral of the electric field corresponds to a drop in the potential (a negative change) \(\int \vec{E} \cdot \vec{dr} = -\Delta V\)
Estimate Work on A Path: The attached vector field represents an electric field. Draw a path starting at the red star and ending at the purple triangle. Estimate the work done on a test charge by the field along the path you drew. The longest vector shown on the vector field has a magnitude of \(15\) electric field units.
Relate Representations: How is the work done by the electric field related to the surface?
- Keywords
- E&M Path integrals
- Learning Outcomes
-