Question

An isolated, irregularly shaped piece of platinum carries -8.31×10⁻⁹ C of charge and is in electric equilibrium. What is the size of this body?

1) 2 mm
2) 4 mm
3) 6 mm
4) 8 mm

Answer 1

The question lacks necessary information to determine the size of the platinum piece purely based on the charge it carries; size cannot be inferred from charge without additional data like charge density or the electric field.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks about an isolated, irregularly shaped piece of platinum carrying a charge and in electric equilibrium, enquiring about the size of the body without providing a direct way to calculate it using formulas from electrostatics. This question is likely missing information or is a trick question, because the charge alone doesn't provide enough data to determine the physical size of the body if it is not a standard geometric shape (like a sphere where you could use the formula for electric field and potential). The concept of electric equilibrium indicates that the charge is distributed evenly across the surface of the conductor, but without more information, such as charge density or electric field, determining the size isn't feasible.