EField version 4.0 was written by Wolfgang Christian. Physlets are cool!
Electric Field Hockey
Introduction: The object of this game (as in most games) is to score. You score by propelling the puck into the goal. The catch in this game is that the puck has a positive charge and is influenced by other charges (both positive and negative) that you place (and effectively glue) onto the playing surface. Obviously knowing something about Coulomb's Law and Electric Fields will probably help you. Hitting a gray obstacle will end the simulation. You can run the simulation again by resetting the puck.
Playing Notes: Take some practice shots by selecting Practice, adding a fixed charge, and pressing the play button. If you miss, reset the game again, add and/or reposition the fixed charge, and try again. You may also clear all fixed charges. You can set the sign and magnitude of each charge you add.
Use the fact that the plus marks showing the trajectory are separated by equal intervals of time to estimate where the magnitude of the velocity is the greatest. The length of the force vector is related to its magnitude.
You may find that turning the Field Vectors on facilitates scoring goals.
Questions:
1) Can you determine where the Coulomb Force is greatest? Why is it greatest at these locations?
2) Suppose you changed the sign of the charges on the puck and on the fixed charges (turned all positive charges into negative and vice versa) for a situation where you scored a goal. What would be the effect on the trajectory of the puck? Explain.
2) How do the results of your trapping simulations depend on the TWO DIMENSIONAL nature of this simulation? In other words, would it be possible to trap the puck, using only the fixed electric charges on the screen, if you moved the puck perpendicularly out of the plane of the screen? Would the configurations that were able to trap the puck on the screen work in real life? You wish to try this.
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EField version 4.0 was written by Wolfgang Christian. Physlets are cool! |
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