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At a certain point in space, the electric field has a magnitude of 22,000 N/C and points in the positive x direction. There are no other fields or forces present. If a proton is placed at this location and released, what is its acceleration?

User Kubator
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Final answer:

To calculate the proton's acceleration in an electric field, apply Coulomb's law to find the force, and then use Newton's second law to determine acceleration.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks for the acceleration of a proton when it is placed in an electric field with a magnitude of 22,000 N/C that points in the positive x-direction. To find the acceleration of the proton, we first need to calculate the force on the proton due to the electric field. This force can be determined using Coulomb's law, which states that the force (F) on a charge (q) in an electric field (E) is given by F = qE.

For a proton, q is equal to the elementary charge, approximately 1.602 x 10-19 C. Multiplying the charge of the proton by the magnitude of the electric field gives us the force on the proton. Once we have the force, we can calculate the acceleration (a) using Newton's second law, F = ma, where m is the mass of the proton (approximately 1.673 x 10-27 kg).

Calculating acceleration: a = F/m = qE/m. Plugging in the values, we get a = (1.602 x 10-19 C * 22,000 N/C) / (1.673 x 10-27 kg), resulting in an acceleration value for the proton.

User Martin Niederl
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