Unit 1: Electric Charges, Fields, and Gauss’s Law
Physics C: E&M · Unit 1 · Paper 1

Electric Charges, Fields, and Gauss’s Law unit test

A test on this unit alone, marked as a percentage and a letter grade — for the test your class is actually sitting, rather than for May. Answer everything, then submit once: seeing the answer to question 3 before attempting question 4 makes the final percentage meaningless.

Each paper is built from this unit’s 22 terms and is the same for everyone, so a teacher can assign “Unit 1, Paper 1” and every student sits the identical test. Multiple choice is marked objectively; the written sections you mark yourself against the model answer and rubric.
Suggested time 37 min 34 points0/17 attempted
1

Field of a finite line of charge

2

Gauss's law

3

Charge densities

4

Field on the axis of a charged ring

5

Flux through a closed surface with no enclosed charge

6

Charge on a conductor surface

7

Field of an infinite line of charge

8

Electric field of a point charge

9

Choosing a Gaussian surface

10

Field inside a uniformly charged insulating sphere

11

Gauss's law vs direct integration

12

Field inside a conductor in electrostatic equilibrium

Short answer 1. Define or explain: Symmetry arguments to eliminate components

3 pts

Short answer 2. Define or explain: Superposition of fields

3 pts

Short answer 3. Define or explain: Shielding

3 pts

Short answer 4. Define or explain: Coulomb's law in vector form

3 pts

Free response

10 pts

A solid insulating sphere of radius R = 0.20 m carries a total charge Q = 6.0 μC distributed uniformly throughout its volume.

Use Gauss’s law to derive expressions for the magnitude of the electric field at radius r for r < R and for r > R.

Evaluate the field at r = 0.10 m, at r = R, and at r = 0.40 m.

Describe a graph of E versus r from r = 0 out to r = 3R, identifying where the field is greatest.

Using V = −∫E·dl with V = 0 at infinity, derive the potential at the surface and at the center of the sphere, and evaluate both.

Explain how the field and potential expressions would change if the sphere were instead a conductor carrying the same total charge.