Problem Set 1

Due Friday, September 11, by 2 pm in PHY 142 homework locker

Problem 1 [10 points]
Purcell problem 1.3
Problem 2 [10 points]
Purcell problem 1.4
Problem 3 [10 points]
Purcell problem 1.5
You might need to wait until Tuesday's lecture to do this one.
Problem 4 [10 points]
Purcell problem 1.8
Problem 5 [10 points]
Purcell problem 1.12
Assume that the two positive ions, the one negative ion, and the fourth ion all have the same magnitude of charge |q|. Consider the two cases where (i) the fourth ion is positive, and (ii) the fourth ion is negative. The side of the triangle has length L.
For this problem, first give qualitative arguments as to where the fourth charge must go, then write an equation to solve for the position of the fourth charge. You will not be able to solve this equation analytically. See if you can find a numerical solution!