Question

A thin spherical shell of radius 5.35 m has a
total charge of 7.65 C distributed uniformly
over its surface.

Find the electric field 10.6 m from the center of the shell. The Coulomb constant is
8.98755

Answer 1

A thin spherical shell of radius R = 5.35 m has a total charge Q = 7.65 C distributed uniformly over it's surface. The electric field outside a charged, spherical, conducting shell is the same as that generated when all the charge is concentrated at the center of the shell and is given by,

E = k Q / R²                where k = 8.98755 * 10⁹ N.m² /C² is the Coulomb's force constant and R is the radial distance from the center of the shell to the point where we need to calculate the electric field.

We need to calculate the electric field due to the shell at R = 10.6 m

Thus, we have

E = 8.98755 * 10⁹ * 7.65 / (10.6)²

E = 611.915 * 10⁶ N/C is the field at a distance 10.6m from the center of the shell.