Fahad Bin Azam - Sec 18

Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Physics -112 Lab Assignment: 02
Name: Fahad Bin Azam

Id: 23321073
Section: 18
Activity 1:
1. From the box at the bottom of the screen, drag a red +1 nC

charge into the middle of the screen.
2. If not already selected: Select ‘Electric Field’. How does the

brightness of the arrow relate to the strength of the field?
What happens when you check/uncheck ‘Direction only’?
Which way do the arrows point for a positive charge?
- The arrows represent the electric field lines. The brightness of the arrow
indicates the strength of the electric field. The brighter the arrow is, the
stronger the field will be. The brightness of the arrow is proportional to the
strength of the electric field. When you uncheck ‘Direction only’ the arrow
become larger due to represent the magnitude and direction of the electric
field. It means we can see how strong the electric field is at each point. For
a positive charge, the electric field lines always point away from the charge
because positive charges create field that repels other positive charges and
attracts negative charges. So, the arrows point away from the positive
charge to show that is repelling with other positive charges.
3. Drag the red +1 nC charge back into the box at the bottom,
and then drag a blue –1 nC charge onto the screen. Which
way do the electric field arrows point for a negative charge?
If we drag a -1nC charge onto the screen then the electric field will always
point towards a negative charge. This happens because negative charge
creates an electric field that always attract the positive charges.
4. Click on the yellow Sensor at the bottom and drag it across

the electric field. What information do the Sensors show?
The sensor indicates the magnitude and orientation of the electric field at
its location. An arrow on the sensor indicates the direction of the electric
field, while the length of the arrow corresponds to the field's strength.
Additionally, the sensor provides a numerical measurement of the electric
field intensity in volts per meter (V/m). It also shows the angle of electric
field relative to horizontal.
5. What happens to the electric field as you move further from
the charges?
- Since we know that electric field strength is inversely proportional to the
square of the distance from the charge that is why moving further from the
charges, the electric field strength decreases. The arrows become less
bright and shorter as I move further from the charges. It also indicates that
the electric field is weaker.
6. Take the Voltage meter (labeled ‘0.0 V’). What information

does the voltmeter give? What information is given when you
click on the pencil (you should have a green circle)? What
does the green circle represent? (If you’re not sure, move on
and come back to this later.)
The voltmeter, labeled '0.0 V', shows the electric potential at the point
where it is placed. This is a scalar quantity, meaning it only has magnitude
and not direction. An equipotential line is shown by the green circle that
appears when you click on the pencil. A line with the same electric
potential along its whole length is known as an equipotential line. Because
there is no potential difference between any two places on an equipotential
line, a charge placed on it would remain stationary.
Activity 2:
1. Stack six +1 nC charges on top of each other somewhere on the left side
of the screen. (It can go anywhere, but there needs to be enough space to
measure 8 m away.)
2. From the box at the bottom, drag a Sensor and place it 1 m to the right
of your charge. This sensor measures the E field at the location of its
placing. In the table, record the E field magnitude at a distance r of 1 m.
Ignore the degrees. (Check / Uncheck Values as need be)
3. Drag the Sensor to the other distances shown in the table, then record
the E field measurements.
Distance, r (m) Electric Field, E (V/m)
1 53.1
2 13.2
3 5.95
4 3.33
5 2.15
6 1.50
7 1.10
8 0.84
4. Drag your Sensor back and replace it in the box at the bottom of the
screen.
5. Using the voltmeter, record the potential V by drawing a green circle on

the screen at each distance. Fill in the table on the next page. Include a
screenshot with all of the green circles at the end of this document.
Distance, r (m) Voltage, V (V)

1 53.1
2 26.8
3 18
4 13.5
5 10.8
6 9
7 7.7
8 6.7
6. Write the equation for the electric field at any distance r
from a point charge q:
Electric field at a distance of r from charge q is given by;
E=k*(q/r2), where k= (9*109 N m2 /C2) and E is a vector quantity.
7. Write the equation for the potential at any distance r from

a point charge q:
V= k (q/r)
Where k=9*109 N m2 /C2 and V is a scalar quantity.
8. Using the previous table(s), make a graph of electric field E

and distance r to determine Coulomb’s constant k using the
appropriate trendline.
(Hint: there are 2 ways to do this. Either make a graph and

then create the appropriate trendline, or figure out how to
make the graph into a straight line and then use a linear
trendline. Once you have a trendline, compare the equation
written above to the equation of the trendline to find k)
9. Insert the graph below and write down the k value that you
found. Compare this value to the known value found on the
equation sheet or in class slides using percent error or
percent difference (whichever is most appropriate)?
We know that, E=k (q/r2). It fits the straight line where k.q is the slope of
the line which is generated by plotting E on the y-axis and 1/r2 in the x-axis.
Slope, m = k.q
Datapoints of (1/r2) = [1.0, 0.25, 0.111, 0.0625, 0.04, 0.0277, 0.0204,

0.015625]
As the straight line equation fitted we can calculate the slope-
m= 53.1-0.84
1-0.015625
=53.089
Hence, k=m/q =53.089/6*10-9 =8.848*109 N m2/C2
% Error = |kknown – kcalculated| *100
kknown
% Error= |8.848*10^9 – 9.0*10^9| *100
9.0*10^9
% Error= 1.68
10. Using the previous table(s), make a graph of voltage V and

distance r to determine the constant k again using the
appropriate trendline. (The same hint as above applies, but
the work will be slightly different because the equation is
different.)
11. Insert the graph below and write down the k value that you
found. Compare this value to the known value using
percent error/difference?
We know that, V=k (q/r). It fits the straight line where k.q is the slope of
the line which is generated by plotting V on the y-axis and 1/r in the x-axis.
Here, r plotted in the x-axis and voltage plotted in the y-axis.
Datapoints of (1/r) = [1.0, 0.5, 0.333, 0.25, 0.2, 0.1667, 0.142, 0.125]
As the straight line equation fitted we can calculate the slope-
m= 53.1-6.7
1-0.125
=53.028
K=m/q
=53.028/6*10-9=8.838*109
% Error = |kknown – kcalculated| *100
kknown
% Error= |8.838*109– 9*109| *100
9*109
% Error= 1.8

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Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Physics -112 Lab Assignment: 02

Name: Fahad Bin Azam

1. From the box at the bottom of the screen, drag a red +1 nC

2. If not already selected: Select ‘Electric Field’. How does the

4. Click on the yellow Sensor at the bottom and drag it across

6. Take the Voltage meter (labeled ‘0.0 V’). What information

5. Using the voltmeter, record the potential V by drawing a green circle on

Distance, r (m) Voltage, V (V)

7. Write the equation for the potential at any distance r from

Where k=9*109 N m2 /C2 and V is a scalar quantity.

8. Using the previous table(s), make a graph of electric field E

(Hint: there are 2 ways to do this. Either make a graph and

Datapoints of (1/r2) = [1.0, 0.25, 0.111, 0.0625, 0.04, 0.0277, 0.0204,

Hence, k=m/q =53.089/6*10-9 =8.848*109 N m2/C2

% Error = |kknown – kcalculated| *100

% Error= |8.848*10^9 – 9.0*10^9| *100

10. Using the previous table(s), make a graph of voltage V and

% Error = |kknown – kcalculated| *100

% Error= |8.838*109– 9*109| *100

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Hence, k=m/q =53.089/610-9 =8.848109 N m2/C2

% Error= |8.84810^9 – 9.010^9| *100

% Error= |8.838109– 9109| *100