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physics To understand how the charges within a conductor respond to an externall

ID: 2113026 • Letter: P

Question

physics

To understand how the charges within a conductor respond to an externally applied electric field. To illustrate the behavior of charge inside conductors, consider a long conducting rod that is suspended by insulating strings (see the figure). Assume that the rod is initially electrically neutral, and that it remains so for this discussion. The rod is positioned along the x axis, and an external electric field that points in the positive x direction (to the right) can be applied to the rod and the surrounding region. The atoms in the rod are composed of positive nuclei (indicated by plus signs) and negative electrons (indicated by minus signs). Before application of the electric The electrons are almost stationary and the nuclei move to the right The nuclei of the atoms of a conducting solid remain almost in their places in the crystal lattice, while the electrons relatively move a lot. In an insulator, the electrons are constrained to stay with their atoms (or molecules), and at most, the charge distribution is displaced slightly. The motion of the electrons due to the external electric field constitutes an electric current. Since the negatively charged electrons are moving to the left, the current, which is defined as the "flow" of positive charge, moves to the right. Imagine that the rightward current flows in the rod for a short time. As a result, what will the net charge on the right and left ends of the rod become? left end negative and right end positive left end negative and right end negative left end negative and right end nearly neutral left end nearly neutral and right end positive both ends nearly neutral This question will be shown after you complete previous question(s).

Explanation / Answer

a)