The electric field strength near the surface of Earth is about 300 V/m. (a) Calc

Question

The electric field strength near the surface of Earth is about 300 V/m.
(a) Calculate the magnitude of the charge density on the surface of Earth.

(b) Calculate the total charge on Earth.


(c) What is value of the electric potential at Earth's surface? (Assume the potential is zero at infinity.)


(d) If all Earth's electrostatic potential energy could be harnessed and converted to electric energy at reasonable efficiency, how long could it be used to run the consumer households in the United States? Assume the average American household consumes about 500 kW · h of electric energy per month (30 days). (Assume 80 million households in the United States and 33% efficiency.)

Explanation / Answer

This problem is, actually not very well defined physically. In order to get the correct answer you need to know that there are charges thoughout the atmosphere and what those charges are: the ionosphere is not that high up and is (actually) a conductor. As we are not told what the charges in the atmosphere are like, or where the ionosphere is, we can not solve this problem.

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