Paper 3, Section II, A

Electromagnetism | Part IB, 2014

(i) Consider charges q-q at ±d\pm \mathbf{d} and 2q2 q at (0,0,0)(0,0,0). Write down the electric potential.

(ii) Take d=(0,0,d)\mathbf{d}=(0,0, d). A quadrupole is defined in the limit that q,d0q \rightarrow \infty, d \rightarrow 0 such that qd2q d^{2} tends to a constant pp. Find the quadrupole's potential, showing that it is of the form

ϕ(r)=A(r2+CzD)rB\phi(\mathbf{r})=A \frac{\left(r^{2}+C z^{D}\right)}{r^{B}}

where r=rr=|\mathbf{r}|. Determine the constants A,B,CA, B, C and DD.

(iii) The quadrupole is fixed at the origin. At time t=0t=0 a particle of charge Q(Q-Q(Q has the same sign as q)q) and mass mm is at (1,0,0)(1,0,0) travelling with velocity dr/dt=(κ,0,0)d \mathbf{r} / d t=(-\kappa, 0,0), where

κ=Qp2πϵ0m.\kappa=\sqrt{\frac{Q p}{2 \pi \epsilon_{0} m}} .

Neglecting gravity, find the time taken for the particle to reach the quadrupole in terms of κ\kappa, given that the force on the particle is equal to md2r/dt2m d^{2} \mathbf{r} / d t^{2}.

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