Understanding Charge Distributions on Objects

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AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism › Understanding Charge Distributions on Objects

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Consider a spherical shell with radius and charge . What is the magnitude of the electric field at the center of this spherical shell?

Zero

$\frac{4}{3}Q\pi r^3$

$4Q\pi r^3$

$\frac{4}{3}kQ\pi r^3$

$4kQ\pi r^3$

Explanation

According to the shell theorem, the total electric field at the center point of a charged spherical shell is always zero. At this point, any electric field lines will result in symmetry, canceling each other out and creating a net field of zero at that point.

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