Final answer:
The question pertains to the electrostatics topic in physics, where the student must calculate the electric field's x and y-components created by a positively charged rod. Calculations involve integrating the contributions of small charge elements along the rod, using Coulomb's Law.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question concerns the electric field created by a charged rod and involves calculating the components of this field, specifically the x-component and the y-component. This falls into the realm of electrostatics, a key topic in physics dealing with stationary charges and their fields.
To find the x-component of the electric field (Ex) due to a positively charged rod, you would typically integrate the contributions of infinitesimally small charge elements along the length of the rod, considering the horizontal distances from each element to the point in question.
The contribution of each charge element to the electric field is negative in the x-direction since the field points away from the positively charged rod.
For the y-component of the electric field (Ey), the process is similar but takes into account the vertical distances from the charge elements to the point of interest. The electric field from a positive charge points radially away from the charge, thus the y-component due to each element will be positive as it points upward.
In both cases, the electric field due to a point charge is given by Coulomb's Law, where E = k*q/r^2, and the resulting electric field at a point is a vector sum of all the individual contributions.