Question

A positively-charged particle is released near the positive plate of a parallel plate capacitor. a. Describe its path after it is released and explain how you know. b. If work is done on the particle after its release, is the work positive or negative? Explain your answer. If no work is done, explain why not.

Answer 1

a. The electric field lines are linear and perpendicular to the plates inside a parallel-plate capacitor, and always from positive plate to the negative plate. If a positive charge is released near the positive plate, then it will follow a linear path towards the negative plate under the influence of electrostatic force, F = Eq, where q is the charge of the particle. The electric field inside a parallel plate capacitor is constant and equal to

`E = (\sigma)/(2\epsilon_0)`

This can be calculated by Gauss' Law.

A positive charge always follow the electric field lines when released. Another approach is that the positive plate repels the positive charge and negative plate attracts the positive charge. Therefore, the positive charge follows a path towards the negative charge.

b. The particle moves from the higher potential to the lower potential. The direction of motion is the same as the direction of the force that moves the particle, so the work done on the particle by that force is positive.